Evan Spiegel
Flavia Santana
Entrepreneurs & Wealth AC
Spring 2015
Evan Spiegel
The messengers applications are multiplying. Who previously only had to worry about the infamous MSN or MySpace, today need to keep accounts on Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Google Hangouts, BBM... and the list continues to grow. Each of these apps has some differences or integrations that make them indispensable, but in essence, all work the same way: is the classic messaging program and contact list. And what happens in a saturated market, where all options are more or less similar? The first to innovate stands out! This is the case of Snapchat, the most innovative of recent times messenger application that challenges basic concepts taken for granted in the world of technology, and is gaining more and more people - especially young people. Forbes magazines recently posted a list of some of the globe’s most youthful millionaires. On the list, there is Evan Spiegel, one of Snapchat’s cofounders. Spiegel is the CEO of the contemporary photo messaging, he cofounded with Bobby Murphy in 2011. Now he is the world’s youngest billionaire. Spiegel grew up in Los Angeles, and different from others, he had a pretty comfortable life before coming successful. Spiegel studies product design at Stanford, where he met Murphy, who studied math. The two eventually built a photo streamer app in which allowed people to exchange photos under 10 seconds. The photo would then be removed after 10 seconds. Snapchat was initially called “Picaboo.” Which I think was a better name them Snapchat. But this is not my argument. Proceeding. Snapchat took off in the fall of 2011 and is now used by 100 million people monthly, for free. It is important to mention that Evan Spiegel is twenty-four years old. This is the fact that actually impressed me the most. He is the world’s youngest billionaire. It implies to me that there is no age barriers for a vision well handled. Spiegel is a great example of an entrepreneur. He
Entrepreneurs & Wealth AC
Spring 2015
Evan Spiegel
The messengers applications are multiplying. Who previously only had to worry about the infamous MSN or MySpace, today need to keep accounts on Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Skype, Google Hangouts, BBM... and the list continues to grow. Each of these apps has some differences or integrations that make them indispensable, but in essence, all work the same way: is the classic messaging program and contact list. And what happens in a saturated market, where all options are more or less similar? The first to innovate stands out! This is the case of Snapchat, the most innovative of recent times messenger application that challenges basic concepts taken for granted in the world of technology, and is gaining more and more people - especially young people. Forbes magazines recently posted a list of some of the globe’s most youthful millionaires. On the list, there is Evan Spiegel, one of Snapchat’s cofounders. Spiegel is the CEO of the contemporary photo messaging, he cofounded with Bobby Murphy in 2011. Now he is the world’s youngest billionaire. Spiegel grew up in Los Angeles, and different from others, he had a pretty comfortable life before coming successful. Spiegel studies product design at Stanford, where he met Murphy, who studied math. The two eventually built a photo streamer app in which allowed people to exchange photos under 10 seconds. The photo would then be removed after 10 seconds. Snapchat was initially called “Picaboo.” Which I think was a better name them Snapchat. But this is not my argument. Proceeding. Snapchat took off in the fall of 2011 and is now used by 100 million people monthly, for free. It is important to mention that Evan Spiegel is twenty-four years old. This is the fact that actually impressed me the most. He is the world’s youngest billionaire. It implies to me that there is no age barriers for a vision well handled. Spiegel is a great example of an entrepreneur. He