5 ms·

Whoah! Instagram didn't pay salaries to any of their 18 employees?

logicallee 14y ago
The portion you refer to is pocket change. Read http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127882/Meet-OTHER-n.. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127882/Meet-OTHER-n.... and it becomes clear that the 18 employees were recruited mostly with equity. Hiring the quality of talent that we're talking about, in will1000's market, just doesn't happen with the kind of equity (e.g. 10% pool) that instagram was using - outside of silicon valley that is.
- dasil003 14y ago
  There is no mention of salaries in that article. It seems like you are a little bit jealous and rampantly speculating about this whole scenario. Obviously with the trajectory Instagram was on it was much easier to hire with equity. I don't know what you mean about the "level of talent" though. There are hundreds of small teams with the talent level of Instagram both in and out of the valley, but talent does not guarantee traction. What makes Instagram extraordinary is a confluence of factors, not just an amazing team.
  - logicallee 14y ago
    I'm not jealous at all. Talent is one thing, but do you honestly think you can have a professional team working on the payroll that (I assume) Instagram had? I just don't see it happening. one thing is you are right, I don't have detailed payroll figures. I was going on the prevailing wind and the fact that the employees were 20-somethigns.
    - dasil003 14y ago
      You're just piling one assumption on top of another.
      - logicallee 14y ago
        yep, these are my assumptions and experience.
- kybernetyk 14y ago
  It would be interesting to know how they pitched the jobs to their future employees? If someone came to me saying "Hey dude, work for free and you get 5% stake in a photo sharing app for the iPhone. It's cool app. We have filters!" I'd show him the door. So there must have been some "we know people at $comp and they will buy us out"-talk to convince people to work for free.
  - logicallee 14y ago
    I'd be interested in knowing where you're located. Not quite for "free" but including a very low salary what you've just derided seems like a fairly standard startup pitch...

The portion you refer to is pocket change. Read http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127882/Meet-OTHER-n.. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2127882/Meet-OTHER-n.... and it becomes clear that the 18 employees were recruited mostly with equity. Hiring the quality of talent that we're talking about, in will1000's market, just doesn't happen with the kind of equity (e.g. 10% pool) that instagram was using - outside of silicon valley that is.

dasil003 14y ago
There is no mention of salaries in that article. It seems like you are a little bit jealous and rampantly speculating about this whole scenario. Obviously with the trajectory Instagram was on it was much easier to hire with equity. I don't know what you mean about the "level of talent" though. There are hundreds of small teams with the talent level of Instagram both in and out of the valley, but talent does not guarantee traction. What makes Instagram extraordinary is a confluence of factors, not just an amazing team.
- logicallee 14y ago
  I'm not jealous at all. Talent is one thing, but do you honestly think you can have a professional team working on the payroll that (I assume) Instagram had? I just don't see it happening. one thing is you are right, I don't have detailed payroll figures. I was going on the prevailing wind and the fact that the employees were 20-somethigns.
  - dasil003 14y ago
    You're just piling one assumption on top of another.
    - logicallee 14y ago
      yep, these are my assumptions and experience.
kybernetyk 14y ago
It would be interesting to know how they pitched the jobs to their future employees? If someone came to me saying "Hey dude, work for free and you get 5% stake in a photo sharing app for the iPhone. It's cool app. We have filters!" I'd show him the door. So there must have been some "we know people at $comp and they will buy us out"-talk to convince people to work for free.
- logicallee 14y ago
  I'd be interested in knowing where you're located. Not quite for "free" but including a very low salary what you've just derided seems like a fairly standard startup pitch...