What I really enjoy about Kara Swisher's article is how her writing style and her framing of the story reflects the whirlwind reality that found Systrom and Krieger in an 18 month exit.
There are no superhuman heroics involved here nor supersecret backroom deals. This is really just a simple story of good luck and timing, a spot on pivot and execution, and honestly brokered business relationships.
You can't duplicate the Instagram strategy because there was no strategy. These guys didn't build an app to flip. They built an app that was cool: to them, their friends, their investors, their users, and ultimately their suitors and acquirer.
I beg to differ, I yawned on the first page, on the second page, and got somewhere else. Information density is very low. It looks like this journalist, as many other, is paid by the line, and adds too much water in the soup.
Vapid is too strong a word, but it nothing but glorifies successful start-ups, and provides no caution for people who'd like to learn something from this. The only conflict described is agonizing over which multi-gazillion offer to take(!).
It's also fairly thin on new insights into the history and acquisition.
Also, vapid according to dictionary: Offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging. Guess you're right. It was challenging to read the whole thing till the end.
There are no superhuman heroics involved here nor supersecret backroom deals. This is really just a simple story of good luck and timing, a spot on pivot and execution, and honestly brokered business relationships.
You can't duplicate the Instagram strategy because there was no strategy. These guys didn't build an app to flip. They built an app that was cool: to them, their friends, their investors, their users, and ultimately their suitors and acquirer.
Kudos to them.