Image Credits: The Diary of a CEO

“If a giant copies you, you’re onto something. Build Harder!” -Evan Spiegel

Evan Thomas Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc. or Snapchat and the youngest billionaire in 2015 recently appeared in a podcast named The Diary of a CEO, by Steven Bartlett. He shares the highs, lows, and lessons from his journey—going from a college dropout to running a $130B company used by millions every day.

Here are SIX of the biggest lessons from Evan Spiegel’s interview that really stood out—and might just change the way you think.

1. Learn to say NO more often.

When Mark Zuckerberg offered $3 billion for Snapchat in 2013, it was a very lucrative offer which not many founders would’ve rejected. But Spiegel said no. He loved what he did and believed in his vision of Snapchat. He says focus is a superpower, and to quote, “You need to get really good at saying no, especially when you’re small.”

2. Learn to evolve as a person.

The hardest challenge Spiegel faced was evolving himself every 6 months as the company scaled. “The battle is always with yourself to grow fast enough for what your team needs next”.
Spiegel doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all leadership. He adapts to each team member to bring out their best. Evan says that though all these years, he had to change everything about himself to keep up with the trends.

3. “Tech changes slowly, then all at once.”

Evan said “Tech changes slowly, then all at once. You can be right and still be 10 years too early”. This quote is a powerful reminder for anyone working in technology or startups. Often, new ideas take a long time to catch on. People may not understand them, the market may not be ready, or the right tools may not exist yet. But when the right moment comes, things can change very fast. Many successful products seemed useless at first — until suddenly they became essential.

4. Don’t Assume – Ask, Listen, Learn

Spiegel believes that company cultures have drifted towards flattery and the employees and workers prefer pleasing instead of giving genuine opinions.
Evan says “CEOs must actively break the filtered feedback loop. You won’t get the truth unless you go out and talk to people”. No one can highlight issues and problems better than a regular customer or a user. Ask them the right questions, take their opinions on company decisions and act accordingly for the best rates of succeeding.

5. Spiegel’s take on AI

Evan has a very contrasting take on the integration of AI in Snapchat compared to other tech CEOs. He believes that AI’s real superpower is making people ask better questions, not just giving better answers.
Spiegel doesn’t fear Al replacing creativity, he uses it to get feedback, explore, and iterate faster.
The company however have their bet on their Snap AR glasses. Which are a long term bet, current versions are in developer hands to speed up learning.

6. Do what you love.

When asked about the final advice for young founders, Evan emphasized on a piece of advice that should resonate with every startup founder: “Ask yourself if you love what you’re doing. That’s the only thing that keeps you going.”
He says that most people don’t understand how emotional building a startup is. The only reason he has lasted this long in the industry? “I care, deeply, about what we’re building.”