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☆ The man who led Google Photos to 1 billion users is now the newest group partner at Y Combinator
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Lieb, having a background in semiconductors and not server management, reached out to his fellow Y Combinator founders for support. After a year and a half of advising at the accelerator, he's stepping up as a group partner, Y Combinator tells Business Insider exclusively. It was never released, but many of the ideas would later come back in the form of Google Photos. From there, he reached into the Y Combinator alumni network to find other promising upstarts. David Lieb, second from left, speaks to a group of Y Combinator founders.

Persons: David Lieb, Lieb, Alex Polvi, Combinator —, Garry Tan, Jared Friedman, Harj Taggar, Michael Seibel, Sam Altman, it's, Y Combinator, " Lieb, Dan Lieb, Y, Xoogler, Patrick, John Collison's, Mixpanel, Jake Mintz, Forbes, Kevin Systrom, Flock, Andy Huibers, Mary, 72m2YgJZq8 — David Lieb, Ryan Peterson, He's Organizations: Apple, Business, Investors, Google Locations: Cloudkick, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Flexport

☆ Twitter is rebranding to X. Here are 5 more tech companies that controversially changed their names or faced backlash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are five more tech companies which changed their names — some controversially, and others leading to success. From The Facebook to Facebook, then MetaMark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, three months after The Facebook was created. But the business plan was first written for a company called Cadabra, as in a magician's "Abracadabra." Before Twitter became X, X.com became PayPalPeter Thiel, left, and Elon Musk, right, hold VISA credit cards branded with the X.com company logo on October 20, 2000. Paul Sakuma/APElon Musk cofounded the online payment company X.com in 1999 before it merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity a year later.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Rick Friedman, Sean Parker, Justin Timberlake, Zuckerberg, that's, Frances Haugen, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Martin Magunia, Brin, Sundar Pichai, Mike Krieger, Kevin Systrom, Stephen Chernin Instagram, Andreessen Horowitz, Krieger, Systrom, Instagram, Jeff Bezos, Evan Agostini, —, Bezos, Mackenzie Scott, X.com, PayPal Peter Thiel, Paul Sakuma, AP Elon Musk, Peter Thiel's Confinity, Jimmy Soni's, Thiel, Walter Isaacson Organizations: Twitter, PayPal, Morning, Facebook, Harvard University, Meta, VR, Reality Labs, Google, Getty, Stanford, Microsoft, REUTERS, Baseline Ventures, Stanford University, Inc, Amazon, AP Elon, eBay Locations: Burbn

☆ A former Instagram product manager explains why he's 'skeptical' the company can successfully launch a new standalone app, as it preps its Twitter rival
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider spoke with a former Instagram product manager to better understand the platform's decisions. IGTV, which launched in 2018 with its own separate app, was sunset in 2022 and its app is now defunct. But Instagram's ethos was its own downfall when it came to rolling out the IGTV product and separate app. The only other alternative, then, is adding a Twitter-like feed to the main Instagram app. "It's almost this predetermined life cycle of a social consumer app," Wei said, adding that Facebook has already gone though this phase.

Persons: Instagram, Eric Wei —, —, Wei, didn't, Oprah, Kevin Systrom, IGTV, We've, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's, Mary Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Meta Locations: Instagram

☆ A former Instagram product manager breaks down the company's 2 key characteristics and how they could help or hurt its Twitter competitor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Insider spoke with a former Instagram product manager to better understand the platform's decisions. But Eric Wei — a former Instagram product manager from 2017 to 2019, and cofounder of creator fintech startup Karat — has spent years decoding it. But Instagram's ethos was its own downfall when it came to rolling out the IGTV product and separate app. The only other alternative, then, is adding a Twitter-like feed to the main Instagram app. "It's almost this predetermined life cycle of a social consumer app," Wei said, adding that Facebook has already gone though this phase.

Persons: Instagram, Eric Wei —, —, Wei, didn't, Oprah, Kevin Systrom, IGTV, We've, Adam Mosseri, Instagram's, Mary Organizations: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Meta Locations: Instagram

☆ Social media apps are all starting to look the same. Here are the 4 biggest consequences of that and why creators will only get more rich.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Alex Kantrowitz | Big Technology | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He writes that every social media app is unleashing the same pool of content, and one app will win. Social media feeds are melting together. This week, let's look at four key ways the growing homogenization of social media will likely play out:1. And though the U.S. has more to debate on its advisability, he's spot on regarding how the state of social media will factor. But when the format appears on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, that type of standardization is appealing.

☆ Instagram cofounder says the app has 'lost the soul'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom said the app has "lost the soul" on an episode of "On with Kara Swisher." The app, he said, used to be for family and friends to share photos. "My biggest regret, I think, at Instagram is how commercial it got," Systrom said. "I think we've lost the soul of what made Instagram Instagram," Systrom said during a podcast interview with tech reporter Kara Swisher. That creates a "terrifying" dynamic, he said, where Instagram users believe that the curated facades they see on the app are people's real lives.

☆ TikTok went big at SXSW and creators discussed building lasting businesses. Here are 3 takeaways that I left Austin with.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Creators gathered at Meta's Austin, TX offices for a series of talks hosted by the Asian Creator House. Whether creators were talking about pay transparency, or startups were pitching their products as solutions, creator monetization was an ongoing conversation at SXSW. "More and more creators are being transparent as to how much they're making," said Monica Ravichandran, creator and Collective Voice staffer. At the Asian Creator House, led by Always Be Creating cofounders Justin Nguyen and Jerry Won, creator pay and business building were also top of mind. But on the brand and marketing side of SXSW, AI wasn't a potent topic, according to Influencer's Penchin.

☆ Artifact: Instagram's founders are back with a new app
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —More than four years after Instagram’s founders left the company, they’re back with a new app. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger on Tuesday announced the launch of Artifact, an app that promises “a personalized news feed” powered by artificial intelligence. Unlike Instagram, the app is more focused on articles rather than photos. A main feed will display popular articles from large media organizations down to smaller bloggers, and a user’s feed will grow more personalized based on what they click on. Jim Bennett/WireImage/Getty ImagesAfter launching Instagram together in 2010, Systrom and Krieger sold the app to Meta for $1 billion in 2012.

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