Instagram founder Kevin Systrom on 3 common startup mistakes

#1 Not launching fast enough

Kevin explains that his biggest mistake with his failed app (Burbn) before Instagram was staying in private beta for 8 months:

“I was worried that if we put it out there, we were going to get judged. And it turns out you want it to fail if it’s going to fail. You want to get that feedback. That fear of putting something out and having it being rejected is terrible, but at the same time it really teaches you to listen and go do something else.”

He only came up with the idea for Instagram by getting Burbn in the hands of users and realizing people loved sharing photos.

“If I could give any advice, it’s stay away from this private beta stuff. Put it out there. Find the people that are vocal about what you’re doing, and put it in their hands and listen to them. Listen to what they’re excited about.”

#2 Not focusing on problems

“I think far too many startups are technologies in search of a problem.”

When Instagram got started, they weren’t trying to reinvent photography or even build a social network—that came later. Initially they focused on three problems:

1. Making photos beautiful with great, free photos

2. Allowing you to share them on multiple networks

3. Fast photo uploads

“That’s what turned Instagram from yet another network trying to tackle this photos thing to something people used.”

Kevin advises entrepreneurs to ask themselves: What are the three problems you’re going to solve?

#3 Maximizing features rather than doing a few things really well

“I think with too many startups, the goal is to maximize features… The thing that ends up making the difference is not another feature that no one’s going to use. It’s what can you go really deep on?… We said: What do people love about the product and how can we make it even better?”

Full video: Kevin Rose “Foundation 16 // Kevin Systrom“ (Jan 2012)