![\"Evan](\"https:\/\/startwp.logomaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Evan-Spiegel.jpg\")
Forbes journalist J.J. Colao said of Evan Spiegel that he \u201cwill either become the next great billionaire prodigy or the ultimate cautionary tale of youthful hubris.\u201d<\/p>\nForbes journalist J.J. Colao said of Evan Spiegel that he \u201cwill either become the next great billionaire prodigy or the ultimate cautionary tale of youthful hubris.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 24, Spiegel\u2019s ego is perhaps his only fully developed and proven attribute, but the street cred to back that ego up isn\u2019t far behind.<\/p>\n
Spiegel grew up in the prestigious Pacific Palisades area of California, the son of two lawyers. He attended Stanford University until he dropped out to focus on his entrepreneurial brainchild, Snapchat. Snapchat is the smartphone app that allows the user to send a picture to selected contacts on a timer. When the time\u2019s up, the picture disappears forever (well, unless the recipient takes a screenshot). Snapchatters send 400 million Snaps each day, matching the daily upload totals of Facebook and Instagram combined<\/em>.<\/p>\n The impermanence the app allows is what differentiates itself from other social media picture platforms, which might explain why Mark Zuckerberg offered Spiegel and his co-founders $3 billion in cash in November 2013 to acquire the app (Spiegel declined the offer, hence the \u201ccautionary tale of youthful hubris\u201d comment). But now, one year later, investors value Snapchat at $10 billion. So, good call, Spiegel. Your ego has served you well so far.<\/p>\n Even though Spiegel hasn\u2019t cashed in on his labor or patience, we don\u2019t think it\u2019s premature to showcase a few quotes from this young entrepreneur. Here\u2019s Spiegel\u2019s take on business and start-ups, and a glimpse into why he has that cocky reputation:<\/p>\n \u201cThere are very few people in the world who get to build a business… I think trading that for some short-term gain isn\u2019t very interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no surprise companies that quickly grow in value attract those who may want to also profit from the hard work of others.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about working harder; it\u2019s about working the system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe thoughtful and mindful about the things you say to other people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first started working on Snapchat in 2011, it was just a toy. In many\u00a0<\/span><\/span>ways it still is\u2014but to quote Eames, \u2018Toys are not really as innocent as they\u00a0<\/span><\/span>look. Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014Evan Spiegel, Co-founder of Snapchat<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forbes journalist J.J. Colao said of Evan Spiegel that he \u201cwill either become the next great billionaire prodigy or the ultimate cautionary tale of youthful hubris.\u201d At 24, Spiegel\u2019s ego is perhaps his only fully developed and proven attribute, but the street cred to back that ego up isn\u2019t far behind. Spiegel grew up in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3571,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,39,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice","category-quotes","category-start-ups"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\n