Snapchat Grew by Connecting People to Close Friends, Not Most Friends
Chief executive Evan Spiegel says most of a network's value sits with a best friend, partner, or spouse.
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career · Snapchat CEO: Why distribution has become the most important moat | Evan SpiegelEvan Spiegel, the chief executive of Snap, was recalling the early days of Snapchat, when larger social networks looked impossible to beat. The belief then was that social networks became more valuable and harder to leave as they added more people, so the biggest networks could not be beaten.
Spiegel's view was that Snapchat found a different opening. “If you could just connect someone not to all their friends, but to their best friend, to their partner, to their spouse, the people that they cared most about in the world, that that's where the majority of the value is in the network,” he said.
The point was about where value sits. A larger network might connect more people, but Snapchat grew in those early days by connecting a person to the right people. For distribution, meaning getting the product into people's hands, Spiegel pointed to the help Snapchat had from reaching people through their phones and Apple's store, alongside that different way of growing the service.
That different way, as Spiegel put it, “wasn't most friends. It was about having your close friends.”
Questions people ask
What does Spiegel mean by distribution?
Distribution means getting the product into people's hands. Spiegel pointed to Snapchat's benefit from the App Store and mobile distribution in its early growth.
Does that mean a tiny network always beats a big one?
Spiegel did not make that claim. His view was that Snapchat grew by focusing on close friends rather than most friends, even while much larger networks existed.