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12/06/13 | Uncategorized

Snapchat Snatches Instagram Biz Lead Emily White

Snapchat, the startup that recently turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook, hires on Instagram’s Emily White as their first COO.

By Betsy Mikel (Contributing Writer, Women 2.0)

Snapchat — the app that allows users to send photos and videos that disappear a few seconds after being opened — announced an impressive new hire on Tuesday: Emily White will leave Instagram in January and will join Snapchat as chief operating officer.

As director of business operations at Instagram, White was involved in bringing in advertisements to the service generate revenue. Previously, she was senior director of mobile partnerships at Facebook. White started her career at Google in ad sales and was brought over to Facebook by COO Sheryl Sandberg.

At Snapchat, White will be second in command to co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel and will help the startup scale their operations.

“It happened really quickly, but to have an actual COO role in one of many companies that is disrupting the communications arena is one I could not pass up,” she told tech blog AllThingsD. “I have always been captivated by the creativity that has gone into the product … and I think that Evan has been looking for someone who can help him grow and scale what is already something that has changed a lot of the way people think about the mobile experience.”

As Snapchat works toward monetization, hiring White as COO shows the startup is making moves toward building a scalable, profitable business. The startup recently turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook — which could have been Facebook’s largest acquisition, more than double the $1 billion Facebook paid for Instagram in 2012.

The startup is growing quickly and is generating a lot of attention, especially after rejecting the Facebook acquisition. Snapchat recently reported that 400 million messages are sent each day. Though the number of active users is still being kept under wraps, the service has reported that the average user is 13-25 years old, and 70 percent of users are female.

HOW DO YOU THINK EMILY WHITE WILL HELP MONETIZE SNAPCHAT?
BMikelPhotoSquareBetsy Mikel is a freelance copywriter and content strategist who helps brands, businesses and entrepreneurs tell their stories. A journalist at heart, her curiosity drives her to find something new to learn every single day. Follow her on Twitter at @betsym.

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