Nobody will buy a $1B Instagram

It was a sunny day in San Francisco and we were all in a merry mood. When we made the walk to lunch we’d usually be in our own heads, thinking about the problems that we just at our desks which we’d return to shortly. But today, we were focused on each other.

I still didn’t know Shayne that well, and Tim was new. But Bailey and I had joined Instagram on the same day a few weeks ago. A former field hockey player at Stanford, Bailey was outgoing and eager in the way she approached her work. She started chatting with Shayne and I lagged a few steps behind. “Did you hear the news?” she asked. “Posterous just got bought by Twitter.” “It makes sense,” Shayne responded. “It’s a good fit.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me if Twitter or Facebook might be interested in Instagram,” Bailey said. “How do you think about that?”

Shayne looked down at the pavement and took a few deliberate steps, gathering his thoughts. I could tell he’d considered this before. “What we try to do is just build the best product we can and grow it to be bigger each day. If we do that, this won’t be a question. Facebook won’t buy a billion dollar Instagram.”

Bailey considered his answer, pushed her lips out approvingly, and we stepped inside to order.

Just a few weeks later, Facebook bought Instagram for $1B.