Kevin Systrom

Kevin Systrom (born December 30, 1983) is an American entrepreneur and computer programmer, best known as the co‑founder and CEO of Instagram, an online mobile photo, video sharing application. This social networking service for iPhone and Android that allow users to apply a filter to a photo and share it on the service or on other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. In 2013, Systrom was listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list under the Social/Mobile category. Together with Mike Krieger, Systrom launched Instagram in San Francisco on October 6, 2010. Instagram is one of the fastest growing services of all time, hitting 80M users by July 26, 2012 and it was acquired by Facebook for $1B less than 2 years after its launch. "Our goal is to not just be a photo-sharing app, but to be the way you share your life when you're on the go," Systrom says. As of December 2014, Instagram has over 300 million active users.

Early life

Systrom was born in 1983 in Holliston, Massachusetts. He is the son of Diane (Pels), a marketing executive at Zipcar, and Douglas Systrom, Vice President in Human Resources at TJX Companies. His maternal grandparents were members of The First Congregational Church of Hancock. Systrom attended Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts, where he was introduced to computer programming. His interest grew from playing Doom 2 and creating his own levels as a child.