Evan Spiegel

So it's very easy to copy hardware, you know, software features.

It's very hard to copy or to replicate a full ecosystem or a platform.

And so we realized that the more that we could build a platform around our business, the more that we could build an ecosystem with creators and developers, the harder it would be for folks to just copy that.

And then it also informed a lot of our thinking about investing in other places that are really hard to copy, including hardware, where it's really, really challenging to copy our fully vertically integrated stack around augmented reality.

So I'm certain there's a lot more to talk about there.

there.

But I think, you know, we learned early on that software is easy to copy.

And so it's really important to build more durable modes.

I think network effects are certainly an important piece of the puzzle for sure, but I don't think they're enough when it comes to these sorts of software cloning.

Despite the fact that we've got a ton of patents and we've protected all these ideas, the way that it works and

in software is that it's quite easy for folks to copy or iterate on top of these ideas.

And so I think in addition to network effects, it's really important to try to build businesses that are more defensible by truly building out a platform that can support relationships between creators, developers, and the community, because that in and of itself we found is incredibly difficult to copy.

Specs is coming out this year.

Well, I think to take a huge step back, I love computers.

I grew up using computers all the time.

I built my own computer when I was in middle school.

I fell in love with graphic design and would spend every lunch period in the computer lab

And I think one of the things that I noticed about computers and I think today with mobile phones is that in many ways they isolate us from one another.

They actually take us out of our social interactions.

They took me off the playground at recess and put me into the computer lab.