# Instagram: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger

- Show: [How I Built This](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this)
- Published: 2016-09-19
- Length: 28m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger

## Summary

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, co-founders of Instagram, recount the company's journey from a location-based app called Burbn to a global photo-sharing platform. They detail the pivot to focusing on mobile photography and filters, the chaotic launch on a single server that crashed frequently, and their strategy of targeting designers on Dribble to drive early adoption. The episode covers their rapid scaling, the acquisition by Facebook for $1 billion, and the lessons learned regarding community trust and transparency during the Terms of Service controversy.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=0) Introduction: Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
- [1:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=111) The Pivot from Burbn to Instagram
- [6:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=393) Developing Filters and the Mexico Trip
- [9:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=584) The Chaotic Launch and Server Crashes
- [11:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=719) Early Growth Strategy and Dribble
- [15:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=915) Rapid Scaling and Facebook Acquisition
- [20:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=1246) Celebrity Adoption and Mainstream Success
- [24:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger#t=1444) The Terms of Service Controversy

## Topics

- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Instagram (product)
- Burbn (product)
- Facebook (company)
- Dribble (other)
- Foursquare (product)
- Goala (product)
- XPro 2 (product)
- U.S. Bank (company)

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- [Founder Feature:  Elan Halpern & Kiki Couchman of Sourmilk](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-startup-cpg-podcast/2025-11-07-founder-feature-elan-halpern-kiki-couchman-of-sourmilk) (The Startup CPG Podcast)
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## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2016-09-19-instagram-kevin-systrom-mike-krieger. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to How I Built This.