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April 20, 2020 23:01 IST
- When Instagram was bought by Facebook in 2012, it only had 13 employees, including founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
- While many of the early employees are still on Instagram, several have gone to other startups, launched their own companies, or left the tech world entirely.
- Systrom and Krieger remained on Instagram until September 2018. These days, they are working on a new website to track the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
Instagram has come a long way in the past decade.
In 2010, it was a fledgling photo and location-sharing app called Burbn that founder Kevin Systrom worked on in his spare time. Finally, he brought in co-founder Mike Krieger, swinging the app to focus primarily on photography.
But Instagram took a long time to hire employees: Systrom reportedly just wanted to attract new employees who were really passionate about the app, and by the time Instagram was acquired in April 2012, the company only had 13 employees, including Systrom and Krieger.
With the help of Sarah Frier’s new book, “Unfiltered: Instagram’s Internal Story,” we’ve compiled the complete list of Instagram employees at the most important moment in the company’s history: when it was acquired by Facebook for $ 1 billion. Many employees are still in the company, while others have either started their own companies or left the tech world entirely.
Here are the first 13 Instagram employees and where they’ve ended up since then.
Read the original article on Business Insider
BONUS: Cole Rise is a photographer who made the first filters for the app and designed the first Instagram logo. The “Rise” filter is named after him.
Kevin Systrom started working on Burbn, which would later become Instagram, in the spring of 2010. The original app combined location-based social media and photo sharing.
Employee on Instagram: March 2010 – September 2018
Most recent post on Instagram: CEO
What you are doing now: Systrom apparently took a break after leaving Instagram in the fall of 2018. Now, he’s working with Krieger to track the spread of the coronavirus through his new website, Rt.live.
Jim Bennett / WireImage / Getty ImagesMike Krieger joined as co-founder of Instagram in 2010 and helped transform what was once an app called Burbn into what is now Instagram.
Employee on Instagram: June 2010 – September 2018
Most recent post on Instagram: Chief of Technology
What you are doing now: Krieger left Instagram in 2018. He mostly stayed out of the spotlight until April 2020, when, along with Systrom, he launched Rt.live, a website meant to track the spread of the coronavirus.
Chris Saucedo / Getty Images for SXSWJoshua Riedel was the first Instagram employee.
Shayne Sweeney was the first Instagram engineer. He built the camera on Instagram so that people could take photos within the app.
Employee on Instagram: November 2010 – present
Most recent post on Instagram: Engineer
What you are doing now: According to his LinkedIn page, Sweeney still works as an engineer on Instagram, making him the longest-serving Instagram employee now that Systrom and Krieger are no longer with the company.
Marcio Jose SanchezJessica Zollman worked at Formspring before becoming the fifth Instagram employee, helping to manage the site’s growing community.
Amy Cole was the first female business manager on Instagram. He also helped Instagram find its first substantial office with windows.
Gregor Hochmuth was the first person Systrom approached to be its co-founder. He finally ended up on board as an engineer to make more filters.
Employee on Instagram: December 2011 – February 2014
Most recent post on Instagram: Engineer and product manager
What you are doing now: Hochmuth is now an artist and engineer living in New York. He is the co-founder of Dreams, a live TV app for your phone.
Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for ICPTim Van Damme was the lead designer for Instagram.
Philip McAllister teamed up to design the Android version of Instagram.
Bailey Richardson helped select the list of suggested Instagram followers of artists, chefs, or animals, so new users didn’t believe the app was only aimed at celebrities.
Employee on Instagram: February 2012 – June 2014
Most recent post on Instagram: Member of the community team.
What you are doing now: Richardson is the author and partner of People & Company, a New York-based community building firm. Since leaving Instagram, Richardson has spoken about what she sees as negative changes on the platform, and announced in 2018 that she was deleting her account.
Yana Paskova / For The Washington Post via Getty ImagesRyan Gomba was the ninth Instagram employee. He joined for love of photography.
Employee on Instagram: March 2012 – June 2014
Most recent post on Instagram: Product engineer
What you are doing now: Gomba is the co-founder of Even, a financial services software startup.
Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty ImagesDan Toffey was the tenth Instagram employee. He came on board to work in the construction of the community.
Maykel Loomans was one of three employees who joined Instagram just before it was acquired.
