How Filters Saved Instagram

Instagram started as a failure, until a romantic walk turned everything around. Back in 2010, the founders, Kevin and Mike, were grinding in San Francisco building a completely different app called Burbn. But there was a problem. No one was really using it, not even Kevin's own girlfriend, Nicole. So Kevin and Mike added a ton of new features. It was like a Swiss army knife of apps. It had statuses, photos, and even meetup planning. But Nicole still wouldn't use it. So one day, while Kevin and her were walking on the beach in Mexico, Kevin asked her why. She said her photos on Bourbon just don't look good. Her friend Greg, who is a professional photographer, always posted cooler ones. And boom. Kevin and Mike had their aha moment. You see, Greg was upgrading his photos using filter apps. So Kevin and Mike built these straight into Bourbon, made it photos only, and relaunched with the name Instagram. It was an immediate hit. 25,000 users on day one and a million by day two. A couple years later, they sold for a billion dollars. And a few years after that, Kevin marries Nicole.