Do The Simple Thing First: The Engineering Behind Instagram
From: http://www.fastcompany.com/3047642/tech-forecast/do-the-simple-thing-first-the-engineering-behind-instagram When Instagram arrived in the iPhone App Store in October 2010, it reflected the work of a two-person development team: founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Neither had classic software-engineering backgrounds. (At Stanford, Systrom focused on management science and Krieger studied symbolic systems.) And when it became a phenomenon—it's still the iconic example of an app that achieved blockbuster status almost the moment it existed —Systrom had to divert his attention to running the business, leaving the engineering to Krieger. Instagram cofounder and CTO Mike Krieger Photo: Gabriela Hasbun , courtesy of Facebook "We knew just enough engineering to get us off the ground and build V1 of Instagram," says Krieger of those early days. A lot has happened since then, including Facebook's $1 billion acquisition of the company in April 2012. T