Question 1

True or false: Systrom once worked as a product manager at Google before founding Instagram.

Accepted Answer

True. He worked at Google on products like Gmail and Google Reader, then left to co-found Instagram.

Question 2

True or false: Kevin Systrom left Instagram in 2018 due to creative differences with Facebook’s leadership.

Accepted Answer

True. He resigned as CEO in 2018, reportedly over tensions regarding Instagram’s autonomy and direction within Facebook.

Question 3

True or false: Kevin Systrom turned down a $500 million acquisition offer from Facebook before accepting $1 billion.

Accepted Answer

False. Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012; there was no earlier $500 million offer from Facebook.

Question 4

True or false: Kevin Systrom was a Harvard physics major before switching to computer science.

Accepted Answer

True. Systrom initially studied physics at Harvard but switched to management science and engineering, not computer science.

Question 5

True or false: He coded the first prototype of Instagram in just 6 weeks.

Accepted Answer

True. Systrom built the initial version of Instagram, then called Burbn, in about 6 weeks as a solo side project.

Question 6

True or false: Systrom was a professional photographer before starting Instagram.

Accepted Answer

False. He was not a professional photographer; his background was in tech and marketing, though he had a keen interest in photography.

Question 7

True or false: Kevin Systrom originally named the app 'Burbn' after his love of whiskey.

Accepted Answer

True. Burbn was named after bourbon, reflecting Systrom's interest in whiskey, but the app pivoted to focus on photos.

Question 8

True or false: Systrom wrote the entire Instagram backend in Ruby on Rails.

Accepted Answer

False. While the early backend used Ruby on Rails, the app also relied heavily on Python and Django for certain features.

Kevin Systrom Trivia Questions