I WAS TOLD EVAN SPIEGEL WAS REALLY SICK. THE 29-YEAR-OLD CEO OF
SNAP, SNAPCHAT’S PARENT COMPANY, WAS BATTLING A COLD OF MYTHICAL
PROPORTIONS. HIS VOICE, I WAS TOLD, WOULD BARELY REGISTER ABOVE
A WHISPER. ¶ WE’D BE MEETING ON THE TOP FLOOR OF THE MAIN BUILDING
OF SNAP’S SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, HEADQUARTERS, THE ENTIRETY
OF WHICH IS ACTUALLY SPIEGEL’S OFFICE—A QUIET, ALMOST CATHEDRAL-
LIKE SPACE WITH WOOD-PANELED WALLS, VAULTED CEILINGS, AND LIBERAL
AMOUNTS OF NATURAL LIGHT THAT STANDS IN CONTRAST WITH
THE LOW-PARTITION-CUBICLE STYLING OF THE TWO FLOORS BELOW.
This description will almost
certainly be triggering for those
who long ago concluded that
they know who Spiegel is: the
cocky L.A. rich kid turned imperial CEO—
who famously turned down a $3 billion
buyout offer from Facebook CEO Mark Zuck-
erberg in 2013 only to see Facebook co-opt his
innovations—perched in his private aerie.
But the man who greets me on a sunny
Thursday morning in late December is
nothing like this caricature. Nor does he
appear to be infirm. Throughout our conver-
sation, his voice is strong, he’s smiling and
quick to laugh, and his hair? Not the slight-
est bit of bed head. He’s grateful, thoughtful,
self-critical, and, perhaps most of all, joyful.
Spiegel’s public image—like Snap’s—has
been defined in many ways by his decision
to spurn Zuckerberg. I ask if he can imagine
what would have happened to Snapchat if
he had sold it to Facebook?
“I mean... people come up and thank
me. Like, random people. ‘Hey, thanks for not
selling to Facebook,’ ” Spiegel says. “That’s
bizarre, right? That’s super bizarre. But I
think the world has changed a lot in the last
seven or eight years.” The steady drumbeat
of Facebook privacy scandals has tipped off
more people to Snap’s prescience.MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES 202036 FASTCOMPANY.COM
Snap’s ephemeral messaging and one-to-one communication protects
user privacy. The company controls what content is published for public con-
sumption, and long ago set up a team of fact checkers to ensure that material
shared by users is true. Its augmented reality features lower users’ inhibitions,
letting them be themselves and just have fun. Snap, in its core design and
function, solved many of the problems we now associate with social media.
But being right all along is not why Snap merits the top spot in this year’s list
of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Spiegel has also pulled off a remark-
able comeback from 2018, when Snap itself was said to be ailing. Snapchat lost
5 million daily users over the course of that year. Between its March 2017 IPO
and the final weeks of 2018, 17 executives departed. Facebook’s unabashed adop-
tion of Snap’s features—executives have acknowledged the similarity between
Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories, for example, but stated that Stories is
a format that it had built upon and not proprietary technology—was taking a
toll. An app redesign flopped. Heading into Christmas, Snap’s stock dipped as
low as $4.82, 84% off its onetime high of $29.44. Forbes argued, “Why Snapchat’s
Trainwreck Stock Will Never Have a Facebook Rebound,” while business pundit
Scott Galloway declared the company “roadkill” and predicted that Snap would
get acquired before 2020, probably by Amazon.
Unbeknownst to most observers, though, Spiegel had been aware of the
issues plaguing the company and had put critical fixes in motion. He worked
on his leadership skills and altered Snap’s executive team and management
structure to make it more effective at executing on innovations. Snap recodedProp^ stylist:^@faethgruppe;^ groomer:^ Anna^ Bernabe^ for^ Murad^ at^ The^ Wall^GroupMARCH/APRIL 2020