When American entrepreneur Kevin Systrom and Brazilian software engineer Mike Krieger went out on a limb to develop a photo-sharing app that they called Instagram, little did they realize they had hit something big. That was five years ago.
Today, as Facebook Inc.'s Instagram marks its fifth year, it has grown by leaps and bounds and is currently 400 million strong. From 25,000 sign-ups from the first day of operations, Instagrammers sprang in number.
Instagram's innovative multimillionaire co-founders continue to explore ways to engage customers, and inspire countless people across the world to think creatively.
Indeed, lots of Instagram users utilize the device, not only to capture and share interesting moments or scenarios in their lives, but also to unleash the artist in them.
Looking back, Systrom and Krieger said that they were well-positioned to take advantage of the movement that gripped app users, capturing and sharing photographs on different networks, Vanity Fair reported.
Queried in an interview late last year whom he considers the biggest competitor, Systrom debunked the notion that Instagram is looking at how to keep up with, and outpace, the growing messaging service Snapchat.
The 31-year-old management science and engineering graduate from Stanford University who has rolled out lots of features with co-founder Krieger said that they focus more on established industries, including television and news sectors, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Systrom underscored Instagram's main thrust, which is to connect people from all corners of the world with real-time information. He noted how expenditures for traditional media may shift to mobile in the coming years. It augurs well for Instagram.
Systrom and Krieger today are recognized as start-up entrepreneurs who amassed a fortune, fuelled by their passion and drive to perfect something for mobile app users.
As an entrepreneur-architect wrote on Facebook, Instagram's co-founders followed three steps that laid the groundwork for business success: "think big from day one," stay focus on the problem being solved, and "cut out all the noise."
Nowadays, there is still so much strategizing going on in the background, and Instagram seems aware of what will pay off well in the years ahead.