A product role is all about people.

A product role is all about people.

A product role is all about people.

Instagram’s head of product, Kevin Weil, describes optimal conditions for business sustainability, where the incentives of users and advertisers are perfectly aligned. For Instagram, the goal is to create a mutually beneficial relationship — connecting advertisers to the customers they need, while at the same time presenting users with brands they love.

Initially, startups are best led by a founder with a clear and specific vision, and a singular focus on achieving product-market fit, according to Kevin Weil, who worked at Twitter in its early days before joining Instagram. Once the business is established and grows, Weil says the mission should be shared knowledge so decision-making can be distributed and people can work toward a common goal.

"People are everything," says Kevin Weil, head of product at Instagram. "No one actually does anything on their own. Everything you accomplish, you accomplish with teams." He explains how personal growth and professional advancement occur when you surround yourself with intelligent and highly skilled people who challenge you to improve and adopt a different perspective.

Kevin Weil, head of product at Instagram, talks about the issues that a consumer company must consider when most of its users live outside the United States: the devices they use, how they connect to the Internet, as well as different social norms. Weil says the photo-sharing app has 700 million users globally, only about 20 percent of whom live in America, and so does much user research abroad.

Instagram's Kevin Weil describes how a startup can independently build products for its customers and still enjoy huge benefits within the larger company that acquired it. Now owned by Facebook, Instagram leverages the parent company's infrastructure, sales operation and business network, says Weil, in conversation with Tina Seelig of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program.

Kevin Weil, head of product at Instagram, describes how easy it is for one's own biases and background to taint discussions with stakeholders. In conversation with Tina Seelig, professor of the practice in Stanford's Department of Management Science & Engineering, Weil also stresses the importance of thinking about the problem you need to solve, not how difficult addressing it will be.

Kevin Weil, head of product at Instagram, discusses how the company introduced the “Stories” feature to help users feel more comfortable sharing photos again and reduce self-censoring. Inspired by an identical feature previously launched by Snapchat, Weil explains how Stories gives users exactly what they want: an ephemeral, person-oriented format that allows for private feedback.

Instagram's head of product, Kevin Weil, shares a core principle that guides work for the popular social media platform: "Systems only get more complex as they grow. So you have to start simple," Weil says. "If you start complex, you're in trouble." He also says starting out simple allows for low-cost experimentation before full product investment, as well as quick iteration.