Should Evan Spiegel have turned down Mark Zuckerberg's $1 billion?
Snap is starting the year off strong. Its quarterly earnings blew past expectations, and while its redesign is angering some users, the change is expected to improve the app experience for everyone, with time.
SEE ALSO:Snapchat just did something crazy. It beat expectations.But life hasn't always been so great for Snapchat. CEO Evan Spiegel continues to be compared to Mark Zuckerberg and his tech giant Facebook, whose much larger products keep taking on Snapchat-esque features. Such a comparison isn't so crazy. Back in 2013, Facebook offered $1 billion to acquire Snapchat. Zuckerberg later upped the offer to $3 billion. And that's just one drama in a long saga of how Snapchat and Spiegel rose to fame.
For more details on the rise of Snapchat, we spoke with the guy who wrote the book — seriously — on this week's MashTalk. Billy Gallagher is the author of "How To Turn Down A Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story," which is out Feb. 13 and available on Amazon.
Gallagher has quite the personal knowledge of the whole "Snapchat Story." He attended Stanford with Spiegel and was in the same fraternity. Back then, he covered the early days of Snapchat for TechCrunch. Gallagher later worked in venture capital, and now, he's getting his MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business. He also says his favorite Snapchat filter is the puppy lens.
In the book, Gallagher illustrates the personality of Spiegel as a frat brother, someone who would stand back, solo cup in hand, and watch pledges push each other in shopping carts; someone who would ask those some pledges to help him with his startup; someone who later took Taylor Swift as his date to Snapchat's New Year's Eve party.
A major character and story arc in the book is Reggie Brown, the classmate who suggested the idea of a disappearing messaging app. Brown later forced out of the company and sued. Spiegel and his fellow cofounder Bobby Murphy settled for $157.5 million.
We chatted with Gallagher about Spiegel and Brown and what he predicts for the future of Snapchat. There wouldn't be a Snapchat without Spiegel, he said, and there may not be one in the future without him, he argued.
You can subscribe to MashTalk on iTunes or Google Play, and we'd appreciate it if you could leave a review. Feel free to hit us with questions and comments by tweeting to @mashtalk or attaching the #MashTalk hashtag. We welcome all feedback.
Featured Video For You
Unlock Jeff Koons' art installations around the world with Snapchat's new AR feature
-
水产品占“四席”!广州南沙十个农产品上榜“国字号”海南特早熟荔枝“桂花香”零售价39.8元/斤!徐闻荔枝预计五一上市围绕目标主动作为 建言献策促进发展Trump trial update: The former president found a new way to avoid facing his many alleged crimes.Echo Dot (5th gen) deal — get it for $29.99 at Amazon尊重敬畏宪法法律 维护社会公平正义围绕“司法为民、公正司法”主线 妥善化解纠纷 维护社会稳定海南特早熟荔枝“桂花香”零售价39.8元/斤!徐闻荔枝预计五一上市Yes, big spiders are spreading in the U.S. No, they're not flying.亲水闲趣,藏在乡间的避暑胜地
下一篇:Best smartphone deal: Google Pixel 8a on sale for $449 at Amazon
- ·SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission: How to watch the launch
- ·市12315指挥中心消费维权案例分析
- ·深挖研究藏茶文化 开创藏茶发展新思路
- ·党建引领聚合力,共建美好生活圈! 石围塘街道举行物业小区功能型党组织成立大会
- ·Microwave technique recovers 87% of batteries' lithium in 15 minutes
- ·Trump trial revealing new evidence: What the lawyer who brokered the Stormy Daniels deal knew.
- ·洪梅香:以脚步丈量大地,做优秀的新型农民
- ·On Ukraine, immigration, and impeachments, the far
- ·Yoon touts pension reform drive amid stagnant popularity rating
- ·尊重敬畏宪法法律 维护社会公平正义
- ·双向奔赴!“百千万工程”典型镇村与农村职业经理人面对面对接
- ·On Ukraine, immigration, and impeachments, the far
- ·Top 10 Most Significant Nvidia GPUs of All Time
- ·鹤山龙口镇青文村:“生态自治”打造宜居乡村新样板
- ·鹤山龙口镇青文村:“生态自治”打造宜居乡村新样板
- ·奋战在工作一线 为滋润生活护航
- ·50 Places to Eat and Drink Before You Die
- ·乘势而上!农业全程无人化作业大有可为
- ·3名“熊孩子”藏装载机睡着了 上百人连夜苦寻10小时
- ·广东发布2024年第1号总林长令
- ·全国土壤普查办抽验组到广东开展土壤普查质量抽验
- ·锚定百亿产值!河源高质量发展油茶产业
- ·The Supreme Court looks poised to side against the rights of homeless people.
- ·女娲文化 雅安又一张城市名片
- ·Gastro Obscura's Guide to Where to Eat in Nashville
- ·路遇交通事故命悬一线 民生救护员出手相救