Snapchat was likely trying to value itself in comparative terms to Instagram. Instagram was a threat because it had both the meteorically rising product AND the

Snapchat was likely trying to value itself in comparative terms to Instagram. Instagram was a threat because it had both the meteorically rising product AND the engineering team capable of scaling ahead of that growth. I think Facebook created Poke not to compete directly, but as a response to the comparison to Instagram. Facebook "coded Snapchat in a weekend", literally.