1) Disappearing Photos Changed the Game
It’s easy to forget Snapchat only launched in 2011, yet in a few short years it had already amassed around 150 million active users and counting. The secret? Disappearing photos.
Where every other platform was racing to archive and index everything users posted, Snapchat leaned into impermanence — messages that vanish, the way real moments do. That contrarian bet paid off in a big way.
2) Facebook Tried to Buy Snapchat
Snapchat’s meteoric rise caught Mark Zuckerberg’s attention early — just a year after launch, Facebook reportedly offered $3 billion to acquire it. That’s an eye-watering sum for a young startup, and it said a lot about how seriously Zuckerberg took the threat.
Founder Evan Spiegel turned the offer down, betting he could build something even bigger rather than cash out early — a bet that would go on to pay off many times over.
3) Snapchat Grew Up Fast
Much of Snapchat’s early popularity came from its appeal to teenagers, who liked having a space where their parents weren’t watching. Disappearing photos gave them exactly that kind of freedom, and the app reached 10 million users in its first year alone.
Snapchat didn’t stop there — the addition of Stories, which let users string together snaps into a shareable narrative, matured the platform into something bigger, complete with its own social norms and vocabulary.
4) It Became a Media Destination
The launch of Discover marked another turning point, opening the door for major media companies — ESPN, Vice, and National Geographic among them — to publish directly on the platform. That partnership model both grew Snapchat’s user base and cemented its status as a legitimate media destination.
Partnerships with the NFL and even the White House followed, underscoring just how far the app had come from its teen-messaging roots.
5) Snapchat Was Eyeing a $25 Billion IPO
Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, confirmed it was exploring an initial public offering valued at $25 billion or more, with The Wall Street Journal reporting shares could begin trading as early as March 2017.
That would make it the largest tech IPO since Alibaba’s 2014 debut, which raised $21.8 billion for the Chinese e-commerce giant and its investors.