CEO Diaries: The Brutal Mistake That Almost Crippled Snapchat!

Jun 4, 2025 15m 55s 9 insights
Evan Spiegel, CEO and co-founder of Snapchat, discusses the critical importance of hiring and culture in business. He shares insights on early hiring mistakes, the values of kindness, smarts, and creativity, and the significance of T-shaped leadership and rapid course correction for company growth.
Actionable Insights

1. Embrace Rapid Course Correction

Focus less on making perfect initial decisions and more on quickly changing your mind and fixing mistakes when new information arises, as this rapid feedback loop is crucial for early business growth.

2. Embed Core Values Early

Clearly articulate and embed your company’s core values and expected behaviors into the team’s DNA before significant scaling, to prevent culture dilution as new hires join.

3. Foster Kind, Creative Culture

Cultivate a culture of kindness where individuals feel safe to share “crazy ideas” and make mistakes without fear of ridicule, as this psychological safety is essential for creativity to flourish.

4. Give Direct, Kind Feedback

Differentiate between being “nice” (avoiding discomfort) and “kind” (genuinely helping someone grow) by providing direct, constructive feedback, even if awkward, to enable improvement.

5. Cultivate T-Shaped Leadership

Develop deep expertise in one area combined with a broad understanding of the overall business and the ability to connect across different functions, as this blend drives impact and inspires teams.

6. Build Breadth from Depth

If you possess deep expertise, actively engage with people and departments outside your comfort zone to build broader understanding and curiosity, which is an effective way to become T-shaped.

7. Hire for Adaptability

When hiring, prioritize candidates who are open-minded and curious, willing to adapt their prior experience and perspective to new contexts rather than rigidly applying old solutions.

8. Seek Interdisciplinary Talent

Look for individuals who appreciate and can combine different disciplines (e.g., engineering and design), as the cross-over between these areas often generates significant innovation and “magic.”

9. Act Promptly on Known Issues

If you intuitively know something isn’t working (e.g., a bad hire), trust that gut feeling and act quickly to address the issue rather than procrastinating out of fear.