SnapChat: the story of sending disappearing photos and how to turn down a Billion Dollars

 

 

Seven-year-old Snapchat is a conundrum for people over 30.  Billy Gallaher captures the appeal of the Snapchat but fails to exert the secrecy of how a photo-messaging app with a definite reputation as sexting tool rose to become a $22bn public company used by 187 million people daily.

Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile application, which lets you easily talk with friends, view live stories from around the world and explore and lets you live in the moment, created by celebrity dating co-founder Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown all former students at Stanford University and developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat. It’s one of the best ways to share memories, maintain friendships, and stay up to date on news and views.

The book reveals some of the Snap Inc’s critical moments, including the company spectacular rejection of a multibillion-dollar takeover offer from Facebook.

Facebook Guru, Mark Zuckerberg’s unsuccessful attempt to buy Snapchat in 2012, months after it paid $1bn for another photo-sharing app Instagram, and tried to copy Snapchat and failed again. This time Facebook returned with much improved $3bn takeover offer, which was also rejected.

Entrepreneur Spiegel, who liked to throw dorm parties with vodka and Red Bull flowing making toxic drinking culture kicking up incidents that went beyond the four walls. Both Brown and Spiegel were kicked out of the house when Brown said: “Dude, I have an awesome idea!” The idea – sending disappearing photos- belonged to Reggie Brown, a Stanford Junior.  When he told Spiegel about it, who declared “ That’s a million-dollar idea.” Snapchat was born when disappearing casual photos replaced text messages among Stanford students.

Although this idea made Spiegel and Murphy into billionaires, while Brown received a meagre $157.5 m settlement after suing the pair for breach of contract. The three fell out as they tried to turn Brown’s idea into a business, working from Spiegel’s father’s $4m  LA mansion.

Spiegel became super paranoid in 2014 subsequent to a leak of some deeply embarrassing sexually explicit, misogynist and homophobic emails from his early Stanford days.

At a 2014 Snapchat party security guards confiscated every guest’s smartphone, Gallagher describes looking up from the crowd at the elevated VIP area, where Spiegel is partying with his date Taylor Swift.

Snapchat has hit problems since its flotation

Gallaher’s book is the fast-paced story of Snapchat and you could be mystified.

 

How to Turn Down a Billion Dollars: The Snapchat Story by Billy Gallagher, Virgin Books £14.99/ St Martin’s Press $26.99, 304 pages.