12 quotes by Snap Co-founder and billionaire Evan Spiegel to encourage entrepreneurs

American-French billionaire Evan Thomas Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of social media company Snap Inc. Its flagship product, the photo-and video-sharing app Snapchat, has 360 million active monthly users as of January 2020, with three billion snaps (photos and videos) generated every day.

While studying Product Design at Stanford University, Evan proposed an app with ephemeral messaging as part of his class project in April 2011. Later that year, his fellow Stanford classmates and future co-founders Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown joined him to launch a prototype of a concept called ‘Picaboo’, which was later renamed as Snapchat. The app’s popularity grew significantly, and in 2012, Evan left Stanford to focus on Snapchat, shortly before completing his degree. 

In September 2016, Spiegel renamed Snapchat Inc. to Snap Inc. and called it a “camera company”. He also unveiled camera-equipped sunglasses called Spectacles. Snap is now hailed as one of the most innovative companies by Fast Company.

The 29-year old was named as the youngest billionaire in the world in 2015. He has an estimated net worth of around $2.1 billion as of March 2020, according to Forbes. He is ranked number 225 in the Forbes 400 list. In 2017, he was named the highest paid CEO after getting $504 million in total. 

Like many other tech companies, Snapchat too recently put off its major event that was meant to act as a summit for developers, advertisers, and creators as fears over a novel coronavirus, COVID-19, escalate.

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He is admired by many as a product visionary and genius who knows what young people want. Unlike most tech CEOs, he cares about fashion and made headlines in October 2015 for appearing on the cover of Vogue Italy.

Here are 12 powerful quotes by Evan Thomas Spiegel, one of the only three self-made billionaires in the world under the age of 30, to encourage aspiring and upcoming entrepreneurs. 

“It’s not about working harder; it’s about working the system.”

“People are going to copy your product if you build great stuff. Just because Yahoo has a search box doesn’t make it Google.”

“It’s important to be thoughtful and mindful about the things you say to other people.”

“Technology businesses in general are susceptible to hacking. That’s why you have to work really, really, really hard with law enforcement, with security experts, internal and external groups, to make sure you’re paying attention and addressing security concerns.”

“I think diversity is a challenge everywhere.”

“Someone will always have an opinion about you. Whatever you do won’t ever be enough. So, find something important to you. Find something that you love.” 

“Conforming happens so naturally that we can forget how powerful it is – we want to be accepted by our peers – we want to be a part of the group. It’s in our biology. But the things that make us human are those times we listen to the whispers of our soul and allow ourselves to be pulled in another direction.”

“There are very few people in the world who get to build a business like this. I think trading that for some short-term gain isn’t very interesting.” 

“One of the saddest things that happens with creativity…I think sometimes it isn’t expressed because of fear. Everyone is born very, very, very creative, but at some point, it can be scary to try to do something new, that feels different.”

“Don’t feel bad if you sell out. Just don’t stop there. Find something you aren’t willing to sell.”

“When we face uncertainty, we encourage everyone to press forward and believe in the values of the product.”

“In times of despair, you may believe the cynic who tells you that one person cannot make a difference – and there are times it may be hard to see your own impact. I beg you to remember that it is not possible at this time or any time to know the end results of our efforts.”

(Edited by Javed Gaihlot)