Kevin Systrom

Kevin Systrom is an American entrepreneur and computer programmer best known as the co-founder and former chief executive of Instagram, the photo- and video-sharing platform that grew into one of the world's largest social networks. He led the company from its founding through its acquisition and several years of rapid growth.

Early life

Systrom was born in Holliston, Massachusetts. He developed an early interest in computers, photography and design, interests that would later shape his most famous product. He attended Stanford University, where he studied management science and engineering. During and after his time at Stanford he gained experience in technology and startups, including an internship at a podcasting company and work at Google.

Career

After working in the technology industry, Systrom began developing a location-based check-in application called Burbn. Recognizing that the app's photo-sharing feature was its most compelling element, he and co-founder Mike Krieger refocused the project into a simple mobile app for sharing filtered photographs. They launched Instagram in 2010, and it attracted users rapidly, becoming one of the most downloaded mobile apps and popularizing square-format photos and built-in filters.

The startup's growth drew major attention, and in 2012 Facebook acquired Instagram in a deal valued at around one billion dollars, a landmark transaction for a company with a small team and no revenue at the time. Systrom remained as chief executive after the acquisition, overseeing the platform's expansion as it added features such as video, direct messaging, Stories and shopping tools, and as its user base grew into the hundreds of millions and then beyond a billion. The Stories format in particular became central to the app and was widely imitated across the industry, while Instagram developed into a major venue for advertising, marketing and the rise of social-media influencers.

Recent work

In 2018 Systrom and Krieger announced their departure from Instagram amid reports of tensions over the platform's direction within its parent company. After stepping away, Systrom pursued personal projects and investing and remained a notable voice in technology. He and Krieger later launched Artifact, a news-reading application that used machine learning to personalize articles; the product drew interest before the founders decided to wind it down. He has also been involved in investing and in occasional public commentary on technology, and during a public-health emergency he and Krieger built a widely shared data tool tracking infection trends. Systrom is regarded as one of the influential figures of the mobile-app era, credited with helping shape how a generation shares images online.