Kevin Systrom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kevin Systrom
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Kevin Systrom in 2018
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| Born | December 30, 1983 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Stanford University (BS) |
| Occupation | Businessperson, Computer programmer |
| Known for | Co-founder and former CEO, Instagram |
| Height | 196 cm (6 ft 5 in) |
| Board member of | Walmart (2014 - 2018) |
| Spouse(s) |
Nicole Schuetz
(m. 2016) |
Kevin Systrom was born on December 30, 1983. He is an American computer programmer and a business leader. He is best known for co-founding Instagram with Mike Krieger.
Kevin Systrom was named one of America's richest young business leaders in 2016. Under his leadership as CEO, Instagram grew very quickly. By September 2017, it had 800 million users every month. He left his role as CEO of Instagram on September 24, 2018.
Meta Platforms (then called Facebook, Inc.) bought Instagram in 2012. They paid $1 billion for the company. This was a huge amount of money at the time. Instagram only had 13 employees back then. Today, Instagram has over one billion users. It also brings in over $20 billion for Meta Platforms each year.
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Early Life and Education
Kevin Systrom was born in Holliston, Massachusetts, USA. His mother, Diane, was a marketing executive. His father, Douglas, worked in human resources.
Kevin went to Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. There, he first learned about computer programming. He became very interested in it. He even created his own levels for the game Doom 2 when he was a kid.
While in high school, he worked at a music store in Boston. It was called Boston Beat and sold vinyl records.
Kevin Systrom later attended Stanford University. He graduated in 2006 with a degree in management science and engineering. At Stanford, he was part of a student group called Sigma Nu. He chose to study photography in Florence, Italy, during his third year. He also got an internship at Odeo. This company later became Twitter.
Kevin Systrom's Career Journey
Working at Google
After finishing college, Kevin joined Google. He worked on products like Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs. He spent two years at Google as a product marketer. Systrom left Google because he wanted to move into a different program.
Creating Burbn and Instagram
Kevin came up with the idea for what would become Burbn. He thought of it while on vacation in Mexico. His girlfriend did not want to post her photos. They did not look good enough from her iPhone 4 camera. Kevin realized that using filters could make photos look better. This would hide any problems with the picture quality. He then created the X-Pro II filter. This filter is still used on Instagram today.
After thinking about his idea, he decided to leave his job. He wanted to see if Burbn could become a real company. Within two weeks, he received $500,000 in early funding. This money came from two investment firms.
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger then built Burbn in San Francisco. It was a service that let users do many things. They could check into places and make plans. They could also earn points and post pictures. However, they realized Burbn had too many features. Users wanted something simpler. So, they decided to focus on just one thing: sharing photos. This focus led to the creation of Instagram.
Instagram grew very fast. Just one month after launching, it had 1 million users. A year later, it had more than 10 million users.
Leading Instagram
In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger co-founded Instagram. It started as a photo-sharing service. Later, it also allowed video sharing.
In April 2012, Facebook bought Instagram. Facebook paid $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram only had 13 employees at the time. Reports say Kevin Systrom received $400 million from the deal. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's founder, promised to let Instagram grow on its own. This meant Systrom could continue to lead Instagram.
Systrom explained that joining Facebook had many benefits. He said they could work with a huge company. Facebook knew how to grow and build a business. They also had a great management team.
Kevin Systrom saw Instagram as a media company. This helped explain why big companies started using video ads on Instagram. Companies like The Walt Disney Company and Activision began advertising in late 2014.
On September 24, 2018, it was announced that Kevin Systrom was leaving Instagram.
New Project: Artifact
On January 31, 2023, Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom launched a new app. It is called Artifact. It is an AI-powered news app. It was available on the App Store and Google Play. Artifact was later bought by Yahoo. Yahoo plans to use it for their news products.
Views on Copying Ideas
Instagram has sometimes been accused of copying features from its competitor, Snapchat. Kevin Systrom said that new services are often "remixes" of existing ideas. He believed that all ideas become original when you add your own style. He also said that you can find the origins of any app feature somewhere in tech history. He called this "just the way Silicon Valley works."
Forbes List Recognition
In 2014, Kevin Systrom was named to the Forbes "30 Under 30" list. This was for his work in social and mobile technology.
In 2016, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $1.1 billion. He became a billionaire because Facebook's stock value grew a lot.
Personal Life
In February 2016, Kevin Systrom met with Pope Francis at the Vatican. They talked about how images can connect people. They discussed how pictures unite people across different countries, cultures, and generations.
On October 31, 2016, Kevin Systrom married Nicole Systrom. Her maiden name was Schuetz. She is the founder of a clean-energy investment company. Kevin and Nicole met at Stanford University. They got engaged in 2014.
See also
In Spanish: Kevin Systrom para niños
