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02Kevin Systrom kept trying until he hit the jackpot with Instagram. Persistence pays off!

Kevin Systrom, the guy who co-founded Instagram, is a real-life example of how sticking to your guns can pay off, even when the going gets tough. His road to success wasn't a straight shot, but more like a winding path full of bumps and detours, each one bringing him a step closer to his dream. Back in 2005, Systrom had a sit-down with Mark Zuckerberg, the brains behind Facebook. Zuckerberg was keen on beefing up Facebook's photo-sharing game beyond just a single profile picture. He saw something special in Systrom, who had already whipped up a website called Photobox, and wanted him to work on this project. But Systrom decided to stick with his studies instead. While hitting the books in Florence, Italy, Systrom scored an internship at Odeo, a company that was all about creating a marketplace for podcasts on the internet. This is where he bumped into Jack Dorsey, a tech whiz who would later help start Twitter. After his internship, Systrom landed a gig at Google. Even though he thought of himself as just an average coder, he used his know-how to create a bunch of tools. One of these was Dishd, a service that let people rate individual meals instead of whole restaurants. He also came up with Burbn, a website that let people share where they were and what they were up to so their friends could join in. In January 2010, Systrom had a chat with Steve Anderson, an investor who was interested in Burbn. Anderson was willing to invest, but only if Systrom found a partner. Systrom reached out to Mike Krieger, a buddy from Stanford, and suggested they run Burbn together. Krieger was on board, and they decided to focus on making their product a part of users' daily routine before trying to make money off it. Systrom managed to bag a $250,000 investment from Andreessen Horowitz for the Burbn project. Not long after, Steve Anderson also chipped in $250,000, and Jack Dorsey threw in $25,000. But even with this financial boost, Burbn didn't get a thumbs up from other investors when Systrom and Krieger tried to create an iPhone app version. But Systrom and Krieger didn't let this get them down. They decided to make their app better. They wanted it to deliver top-notch photos to other social media platforms. This led to the creation of a new and improved app that had filters, a double-tap feature for liking photos, and a display of followers and following at the top of the app. A local designer named Cole Rise got wind of their project and offered to test the app and create new filters. His addition of four filters really upped the photo quality. Systrom and Krieger decided to give their app a new name - "Instagram," a mash-up of "instant" and "telegram." To set the right vibe and create engaging content, they handpicked their first users, going for good photographers with a lot of Twitter followers. This strategy worked like a charm, and Instagram quickly became a hit, showing that Systrom's never-give-up attitude was the secret to his success.

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