#InstaEntrepreneurial

Do any of you remember the days when we used to carry around cameras—in our pockets, in our purses? No, no, not your phones, but actually a little camera, like a Kodak or a Nikon. Over the last five years cell phone camera technology has revolutionized the DIY photography market, and killed the need for personal cameras. But with all of these young “snappers” snapping pictures of their dogs and desserts, what could they do with them? How could they edit the pictures? How could they make sure all of their friends knew about the great deal they got on a pair of Sperry’s by finding them in a Belmont trash can? If only there was a way for these innovative amateur photographers to share their photos instantly with their friends, almost like sending a little mini telegram!

Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger solved all of the cell phone photographer’s needs, when they created, Instagram.

While coming up with the idea for Instagram, the co-founders claim that entrepreneurs shouldn’t be afraid to solve simple problems! Their simple solutions where as follows:

1. Making Photos Beautiful
2. Sharing on Multiple Social Networks
3. Uploading Photos Quickly

And BAM! Within its first week, Instagram had 100,000 users who were happy to let Kevin and Mike solve their simple problems.

Geniuses aren’t they? They will be the first to tell you, that Instagram wasn’t the first app they developed. The two men originally created a check-in app: Burbn. Heard of it? Me neither. It turns out, that the only thing users were using Burbn for, was to take photos and post them of where they were, rather than checking in places. They watched the behavior patterns in their app, and decided to pivot the direction to a photo sharing app, that also lets you tag the location of where you took the photo: thus, Instagram is born.

Apps and social plat forms will continue to come and go. When is the last time you checked into your MySpace page? Yeah, that’s what I thought. So what makes a platform pass the test of time? Simply stated it can be boiled down to these three things:

1. Being a social syndicator
People want to be on every platform they can be on today, but the last thing they want to do, is manage all of them separately.
Instagram allows you to share with multiple platforms at once.
2. Having constant content
It doesn’t matter how many times Susie orders a dessert at her favorite restaurant, a picture of it is still going to end up on Instagram
3. K.I.S.S.: Keep it simple, Stupid!
People enjoy being spoon-fed, folks—if they’re going to take the time to do something that your app offers, it better not take up too much of their time! Instagram offers “instant” relief for these time crunchers who want it done yesterday.

Where do you think the social media market is going next? Are there more simple problems out there just waiting to be snatched by young bright entrepreneurs?

Have an #InstaEntrepreneurial day!