Boyan Slat Quotes

Being an app developer isn't at all like working at Apple. There is this huge haystack of apps, and even a very shiny needle can get lost in that haystack.

I like writing code. I like building product. I like making things that people like.

The rise of Google, the rise of Facebook, the rise of Apple, I think are proof that there is a place for computer science as something that solves problems that people face every day.

'Instagram' is an app that only took 8 weeks to build and ship but was a product of over a year of work.

It took less time to build 'Instagram' than it did for me to get my work visa. The app was an instant hit, and Facebook agreed to acquire the startup for about $1 billion in April 2012.

Kevin Systrom of Instagram used to work for us as a consultant in the early days of Mint. I knew him a long time ago. Maybe I could have gotten in there. But with photo sharing, I don't know if there's an obvious business model. I don't think there's a competitive, sustainable advantage.

Before I started Code for America, I spent my career around startups. First it was game developers, small teams trying to make hits in a tough business. Then, when I started working on the Web 2.0 events, it was web startups during times of enormous opportunity and investment.

Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering.

I have always been very tech-focused, which you may almost say is the traditional CEO in Silicon Valley.

I am interested in computers and technology, and art, photography, and design.

In the space of three weeks, I met a fair bunch of the guys who were just starting those little programmers' co-ops, and everybody was talking about starting businesses.

I learned so much in the year after Flickr was acquired. People forget, but Flickr launched in February 2004. And a year later, the deal was done with Yahoo, and we closed it in March of 2005. It was really independent for a relatively short period of time.

If people want to code, and they want to be entrepreneurs, there's opportunities for them to do that.

I don't program, so I don't belong in Silicon Valley. If I did belong in Silicon Valley, I'd be there creating a revolutionary compression algorithm for billions of dollars.

Twitter has always been that refreshing place where I can quickly find out what is going on in my tech world. I follow mostly entrepreneurs and VCs - some who I know and some who I don't know. I have a few companies in my feed. But no newspapers, no magazines, and no mainstream media.

I love that our engineers are first and foremost 'Instagram' users.

I understand what scripting and programming is, but do I know how to do it? Not really. But, I think that even knocking on the door allows you to understand a little bit of that kind of stuff. Mainly what 'Silicon Valley' has taught me, in that respect, is the business side of it, with that gold rush element as opposed to creating software.

There's no more silicon in Silicon Valley. It's all iPhone apps.

My heart has always been in programming and marketing.

I think all of the great developers start not with the intent to make money, but with the intent to make something fun that's in their passion zone.

You can learn how to code today. You can build this same thing that you're looking at every day, that you're tweeting on, that you're snapping on, and I feel like that conversation needs to be had.

We're creating this new breed of techies who are going to be the ones starting the tech companies of the future.

Content is supposed to be king. But in the world of electronic devices, Apple seems to be placing the crown on its own head, apparently believing that its iPad and iPhone are more important to customers than the books, movies, and music they store on them.

After graduating in International Relations in 2011, I turned down safe, corporate job offers and instead accepted a position at an 'incubator' in L.A. - a tech word for a team of people who are funded by investors to create apps. I knew the future was digital and that I had to take a risk.

The founders of Snapchat last year turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook and a $4 billion offer from Google. It was a surprising show of integrity from the guys who invented the app that lets you look at pictures of boobs for five seconds.