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Instagram founder Kevin Systrom’s #1 piece of advice for startup founders
As Instagram founder Kevin Systrom explains in the clip below:
“The #1 piece of advice I always give is to solve a problem. So many people found a company just to found a company or they’re like ‘I’ve got an idea’. But ideas are not companies. Ideas are not products.”
He explains that one warning sign you’re on the wrong track is that your idea includes some element of a current fad, like AI or crypto. Not in the sense that these technology waves aren’t real—but the core issue is when these ideas are not backed up by a clear problem that you’re solving.
“The number of times I’ve seen entrepreneurs go that direction because it feels good to be part of the trend and say you have a cool idea without asking yourself: ‘Does this actually solve someone’s problem?’ is countless… I feel like I’m giving this advice away for free but no one is taking it.”
Kevin and his cofounder Mike Krieger actually fell victims to this trap themselves. Before Instagram, they launched a check-in app called Burbn mostly because check-in apps like Foursquare were all the rage at the time and he was able to raise money without ever really asking if the product solved a core problem. And after three months, it was very clear that Burbn wasn’t working.
Fortunately they noticed that the few people who were using Burbn loved sharing photos to show their friends what they were doing at various locations. They decided to cut every other feature of Burbn and focus solely on the problem of photo sharing, ultimately building Instagram.