What we can learn from Evan Spiegel

Age doesn’t really matter. The first prototype of Snapchat launched when he was merely 21, and Snapchat became wildly successful just a year later. He joined the Forbes 400 at age 25, and became the world’s youngest billionaire.

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. As an entrepreneur, you can’t be deterred by the idea of failure.

It’s okay to say no to money. Evan turned down several investors who tried to buy Snapchat because he believes in his self, his partners, and his hard-works.

Spiegel being asked, “When did you know that you wanted to start a company? What drove you to have that purpose?” Spiegel replied, “A lot of it is not wanting to work for anyone else. My dad had to cancel vacations and he got called from work. I used to thought that when I grow-up, I want to be the guy on the phone.”

Avoid standard terms Standard is really a code for “I have no idea what I am talking about.”

It’s not about the degree, it’s about the experience.

Evan Spiegel was asked a question from audience, “Do you think anyone can start a company?” His answer was simple and to the point, “Absolutely. If I can, you can.”

Evan Spiegel’s Way Of Doing Business. 1st one is the power of simplicity which is exactly what a customer wants. 2nd one is that despite all the success,he remained true to the principles with which he started the company. He did not allow himself to be lured here and there loosing sense of his pioneering principles.

Build a foundation for those who come after you. We must welcome those who come after us, and accept that while we have a part to play in building their success, we must also concede to their new ideas and conceptions.

Failure is inevitable and no one has the answers. It’s so true that often the biggest lessons in our careers are accepting the learning curve of failure and the acknowledging that you don’t know all of the answers, and are not expected to.

There is a real value in sharing moments that don’t live forever.

You are going to make a lot of mistakes. I’ve already made a ton of them — some of them very publicly — and it will feel terrible, but it will be okay. Just apologize as quickly as you can and pray for forgiveness.

Dare to be different. Often times we do all sorts of silly things to avoid being different but the things that makes us happen are the times we listen to our soul and allow ourselves to be pulled in a different direction.

It’s important to be thoughtful and mindful about the things you say to other people.

Have faith in yourself. Know that you will be capable of all the growth expected of you and that you expect of yourself.

The way you have to do is what you believe in and what you want to do. And we built a team around that idea. So when you built a team that is terrific who believes in building something really meaningful, you just keep going.

We do have a sense of entitlement, a sense of ownership, because after all, this is the world we were born into, and we are responsible for it.

We’re just going to keep executing on what we believe.

I think everyone is born creative but it can be suppressed by fear.

It’s not about working harder, it;s about working the system.

Conforming happens so naturally that we can forget how powerful it is – we want to be accepted by our peers – we want to be a part of the group. It’s in our biology. But the things that make us human are those times we listen to the whispers of our soul and allow ourselves to be pulled in another direction

On not giving up before Snapchat: “We would experiment and fail. We must have attempted nearly 34 projects.

On perseverance: “In times of despair, you may believe the cynic who tells you that one person cannot make difference – and there are times it may be hard to see your own impact. I beg you to remember that it is not possible at this time or any time to know the end results of our efforts.

Everyone is born very, very, very creative, but at some point it can be scary to try to do something new, that feels different.