Kevin Systrom

“Whether it's an ad or organic content, video provides a new creative dimension for storytelling on 'Instagram'. Video lets people convey the power and beauty in a moment through sight, sound, and motion.”

“Photos were seen as the most private type of content, and 'Instagram' really flipped that on its head and said photos can be really public.”

“People are hungry for what's happening right now in the world.”

“When people say that college isn't worthwhile and paying all this money isn't worthwhile, I really disagree. I think those experiences and those classes that may not necessarily seem applicable in the moment end up coming back to you time and time again.”

“The major reason why Instagram works is that you can follow anyone out there and start following their photos immediately.”

“Do what you love, and do it well - that's much more meaningful than any metric.”

“Working at a startup to make a lot of money was never a thing, and that's why I decided to just finish up school. That was way more important for me.”

“'Instagram' is a media company. I think we're about visual media. I explain ourselves as a disruptive entertainment platform that enables communication through visual media. I don't think it's just photos.”

“It helps to see the world through a different lens, and that's what we wanted to do with Instagram. We wanted to give everyone the same feeling of discovering the world around you through a different lens.”

“As a kid, creation was something that I always loved. Creating worlds for video games, creating businesses that didn't make any money, selling lemonade, etcetera. In my fourth grade classroom, I even instituted a government structure because I was really interested in people having positions and there being law.”

“I like to say that the one thing that all people who succeed in changing the world have in common is that they at least tried.”

“Back in the day, I actually studied photography in Florence for a few months, and my photography teacher took away my digital camera and said, 'No, use this - it's analog and it's square.' It was a Holga camera, a very cheap $3 or $4 plastic camera. And that's what inspired 'Instagram'.”

“The best companies in the world have all had predecessors. 'YouTube' was a dating site. You always have to evolve into something else.”

“One of the earliest requested features was to do premium filters where a brand could sponsor a filter. It's just not in our wheelhouse. It doesn't feel 'Instagram'-my in the way that the high-quality brand ads do.”

“A platform is the base from which something big happens. In our case, we're an entertainment platform in the sense that there are people signing up like MTV, Burberry, folks like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. And why? Because it's their channel to control their entertainment to their fans.”

“Mobile has created a totally different dynamic for discovering apps. You're sitting in a bar, and your friend is taking some pictures, and then you ask what app they're using.”

“I think not focusing on money makes you sane because in the long run it can probably drive you crazy.”

“I'm always in awe of people who are artists in their fields - people who understand that simply by taking ideas and translating them into reality, they've created value in the world.”

“Chobani did a really wonderful yogurt campaign on 'Instagram' to shift perceptions away from the fact that they were just yogurt. And they had a 7-point incremental lift on shifting that perception through a brand advertisement on Instagram.”

“Instagram was created because there was no single place dedicated to giving your mobile photos a place to live and to be seen.”