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Instagram has taken over Snapchat. This news should come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. Ever since the launch of Snap’s “Discover” update earlier this year, Snapchat has been losing numbers to the Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform. Whether or not that loss is related to executives leaving is yet to be seen. However, the fact remains that two executives have left Snapchat this year to move onto other projects.
Nick Bell, Image from Recode
Building Better Things
First off, we have Nick Bell. As reported by Recode, Bell created Snapchat’s Discover section. Discover enables users to see others stories and view original content created by publications. He has worked at the company for four years now, and revealed his departure via an internal email on Monday, November 12th:
“After nearly 5 years and a once in a lifetime ride, I have let Evan know that I am leaving Snap to take some time off to recharge before deciding on my next adventure.”
Nick Bell oversaw most of the platform’s content, partnerships, and original pieces. Pretty much everything you saw in the Discover section, he had a hand in acquiring. ESPN, NBC, the NFL, and others are working on unique content there thanks to him. Sure, the material is hardly anything more than clickbait, but it brings in views.
There’s usually more to the story when someone leaves a company, however. There have been rumors of Bell going for quite a while now. Bell was on Recode’s podcast only last month. There, he revealed:
“I will be at Snap as long as I feel super excited about the company and as long as I feel super excited about what I’m doing day to day. And right now, you know, we’ve talked about some of that stuff today. Right now I’m having a blast and I’m excited about this stuff we’re launching towards the end of this year.”
Either Bell was promoting the company, or something significant has changed in the past month. Regardless, he is out after a long four-year journey at Snap. CEO Evan Spiegel commented on the departure via a statement to Recode:
“We are so grateful for Nick and everything he has built at Snap. It has been an incredible journey that began with our vision for what content could be on mobile. Today, more people are watching more premium content on Snap than ever before, and we couldn’t be more excited about the momentum we are seeing with Snap Originals. We will miss Nick, and we wish him all the best.”
An Underdog Story
Otherwise, Imran Khan, who was a business exec at Snap for the last four years, is launching his own startup. Focused on the e-commerce space, Khan will be creating an Amazon-like platform for companies to sell their products. According to Recode, Khan is funding most of the project and will be a more focused venture than competitors.
Khan has around a half-dozen employees working under him. One of those workers is Jason Bosco, VP of Engineering at Dollar Shave Club. The former business exec has never started a company before this. However, he has experience monitoring Snap’s advertising and business approach. Khan left Snap in September of this year.
Interestingly, sources claimed Khan was getting into venture capital. This would make sense due to his 10-year history in banking. However, it’s important to note that the e-commerce industry is packed with bigger companies. eBay, Amazon, Walmart, and Wish are way ahead of Khan. The now CEO better have some bold and unique ideas to get his startup off of the ground. He hopes to launch the platform sometime next year.
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