Scaling IT from Startup to $1 Billion – Instagram Style
Over at TechCrunch, Ingrid Lunden posted a brief article, featuring 180 slides from Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger, about Instagram’s early development & tech scalability hurdles. (You can check out the full slide deck below.)
Like many tech startups, they started with an idea, but no real tech development experience. Unlike many startups, their company was wildly successful. The photo sharing company that launched about 2 years ago was just bout for $1 Billion by social media giant Facebook. That purchase means a lot for tech startups, venture capitalists, etc. You can read more about that at TechCrunch – this is a look back at the wild ride from creative technology concept to development to billion dollar application.
I like Krieger’s perspective on hiring a few talented developers, rather than a fleet of cheaper junior level programmers. As Instagram honcho Kreiger puts it in the slides, the smaller team meant focus. They also spent time (and money) to review & test code repeatedly, to ensure they wouldn’t constantly be going back to it.
I also really liked the way he presented the technology challenges they faced from early success. In one slide he notes that getting 25,000 sign-ups on day 1 was the best/worst day of his life. Fast user adoption meant they had to scale their technology platform – fast!
But more than just giving a fun & interesting look from Krieger’s perspective, the slides themselves are a good representation of some of the design & development philosophies that helped make Instagram popular. The slides are simple, with a clean design and a fun personality woven in!
At G.1440, we love helping companies take full advantage of the web – whether you’re a tech startup like Instagram circa 2010, a large company, or a small organization that has little do with the tech sector. Every organization stands to gain or lose as technology evolves, and our strongest skill, in my opinion, is in finding the best ways to take advantage of all that tech has to offer! From digital marketing to website design to Tech Recruiting & IT Staffing, we can help you write the story of your company’s future!