⇨ An Intimate Portrait Of Innovation, Risk, And Failure Through Hipstamatic's Lens

Fascinatic story about the demise of Hipstamatic.

There are many reasons why Instagram succeeded¹ and Hipstamatic did not. The article insists on the social aspect but that's not the only one.

"The biggest problem with Hipstamatic is that [Lucas] didn’t focus on Hipstamatic. What did Instagram do when lightning struck? They did nothing but focus on Instagram. What happened when Hipstamatic got successful? They made [separate products such as] Swankolab, Incredibooth, D Series, Family Album, Snap Magazine, and splintered off in so many different directions."
— Stuart Norrie, former Hipstamatic designer

Focus. Focus. Focus.

(via James Duncan Davidson)

1. At least in term of user base and engagement. Financially, how would have Instagram make any money other than being acquired by some bigger company? ↩