Russ Caditz-Peck

@Snap @Snapchat comms director. Previous: @Dropbox, @FCC, @FTC. Follow me for an exhilarating stream of Snap-related tweet 👍 [email protected].

[Kirin Sinha @kirinsinha]

I’m thrilled to share that @Snap has acquired @Illumix!

We started Illumix with an ambitious belief: that digital experiences would eventually become part of the physical world around us, in the spaces where people live, move, and interact.

Over the past eight years, our team has built a proprietary spatial mapping and AR platform designed to make AR experiences work reliably in these real-world environments - persistent, context-aware, and anchored to the spaces around us. That work has powered AR experiences across real-world venues, spanning location-based entertainment, enterprise, and gaming.

This acquisition is a major milestone for Illumix and a powerful next chapter for the technology, platform, customers, partners, and team we’ve built.

Snap’s bold vision for AR and AI strongly aligns with what we have always believed: that the future of computing will be more immersive, more intuitive, and ultimately more human.

I’m incredibly proud of our team and deeply grateful to everyone who helped us get here - our customers, partners, investors, advisors, friends, and longtime believers.

Onward 🚀

https://t.co/HxjE9vwar0

[Snap Inc. @Snap]

Today, we announced our Q1 2026 earnings results, where we shared that Snap’s global community has grown to 956 million monthly active users, and revenue reached $1.53 billion.

Full report: https://t.co/nDlIAzA3uH

[Evan Spiegel @evanspiegel]

See you soon! 😎

[Snap Inc. @Snap]

We're launching AI Sponsored Snaps, a new conversational, AI-driven ad format rooted in Chat. 💬https://t.co/AvCu6Fhd8G

[TechCrunch @TechCrunch]

Snapchat brings AI-powered conversational advertising to its app https://t.co/Jc4NIG2lUl

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

.@EvanSpiegel: "15 years ago, we learned that software is not a moat. This is something that everyone is discovering today with AI."

[John Collison @collision]

For our last Cheeky Pint episode this season, @evanspiegel joins me to discuss the "crucible moment" at Snap. We cover the shift from smartphones to AR glasses, why he thinks VR is antisocial, how creative culture at Snap works, and why Norway is Snapchat-obsessed.

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

Software is not a moat

Over the last 15+ years, nearly every innovation @EvanSpiegel and his team shipped got copied. Stories. AR glasses. Swipe-based navigation. The camera-first interface.

And yet @Snapchat is the only independent consumer social app that has lasted. Nearly 1 billion MAUs. ~$6B in annual revenue. Over 8 billion AI photos shared on Snapchat *every day*.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:
🔸 Why distribution—not product—is now the biggest challenge for startups
🔸 How Snap keeps inventing with a 9-to-12-person design team
🔸 How AI is changing the way designers work
🔸 Why humanity's comfort with AI will be a bigger bottleneck than the technology
🔸 Why Evan is calling this year a "crucible moment" for Snap

Listen now 👇
https://t.co/2KO5eH2GHC

[Trung Phan @TrungTPhan]

never forget Evan’s Linkedin bio says “VP Product @ Meta”

[David Senra @davidsenra]

Evan Spiegel on the invention of Stories — a feature that’s used by billions of people every day:

“When you're working on new technology it's so exciting and inspiring that you can lose focus on its impact on people.

We start with people.

[Steve Jobs and Edwin Land did too]

That was the core inspiration of stories.

People were saying:

"Why is my social media feed in reverse chronological order?”

“Why is it permanent?”

“Why am I feeling judged all the time by how many likes or comments I have?"

So we asked how have people told stories forever?

They told stories in chronological order.

Stories weren’t permanently saved forever.

They weren’t publicly judged and liked.

And so it was just very obvious for us to develop a product where all the images and videos were in chronological order.

They were deleted after 24 hours.

You could start your day fresh the next day.

Stories didn't have these likes and comments, which opened up this whole new world of self-expression.

Because instead of just trying to post what would look pretty, or popular, or perfect, people were sharing this whole range of human emotions.”

—-
Talking to Evan made me think of what Steve Jobs said:

Technology should enhance human creativity.

When I heard Evan speak about inventing stories it reminded me of this insight from Steve:

Products should come to the user.

The reason that Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we've always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts, to be able to get the best of both, to make extremely advanced products from a technology point of view, but also have them be intuitive, easy to use, fun to use, so that they really fit the users. The users don't have to come to them, they come to the user."

I found my conversation with Evan fascinating. I hope you watch it!

[David Senra @davidsenra]

My conversation with @evanspiegel, co-founder & CEO of @Snap.

0:00 Edwin Land Influence
2:01 Art Science Upbringing
3:27 Computers And Connection
5:50 Smartphone Addiction Lens
9:30 Building For Humanity
13:15 From Internships To Snapchat
17:02 Snapchat vs. Social Media
18:38 Stories And Vertical Video
22:22 Uncompromising Kind Culture
28:34 Snap Leadership And Design
37:38 AI Supercharges Snap
41:57 No Moat In Software
42:31 Beating the Clone
43:50 Messaging Network Effects
44:58 Camera Out of Pocket
45:49 Specs Market Reality
48:28 AR Platform Explosion
52:14 Vision-Led Product Design
54:09 Why Not Luxottica
59:11 Owning the Stack
1:03:02 Snap the Middle Child
1:08:04 Crisis Without Burnout
1:10:02 Snapchat Plus Growth
1:12:54 Rebuilding the Ad Engine
1:19:03 Subscriptions Over Ads
1:21:14 Fighting Giants With AI
1:22:04 Why Hardware Stands Alone
1:25:29 Snap Lab Origins
1:25:59 New Apps Beyond Snapchat
1:28:29 Focus And Founder Drive
1:32:14 Surfacing Problems Fast
1:36:08 Flat Culture Meritocracy
1:39:36 Last Company And Giving Back
1:41:15 Turning Down Billions
1:48:51 Snapchat Funds New Computing
1:51:24 Crucible Year And Schedule
1:53:56 Stress Reframed Meditation
1:56:09 Explainer In Chief
1:57:07 Closing

Includes paid partnerships.

[David Senra @davidsenra]

This was a fascinating conversation. Evan has soul in the game. Episode is available now!

Spotify: https://t.co/04bZXWk4ha

Apple: https://t.co/RPmc0zQK1k

YouTube: https://t.co/ZKfgW0Or0C

[Russ Caditz-Peck @RussCP]

Nice gong moment - thanks for having us @tbpn

[TBPN @tbpn]

Snap CEO @evanspiegel says they just hit $1 billion ARR from subscriptions and now have as many paying users as ESPN:

"It's really exciting for us as we work to diversify our revenue and create this whole new business line."

"People are really passionate about Snapchat and they want all these new features."

"In the past, we would say, 'This is really a feature for power users, we can't build this for a billion people.'"

"This gave us the justification and the resources to say, 'Okay fine, pay us $2/month and have your Bitmoji pets and chat backgrounds.'"

"It's great for the team because otherwise, we never would have prioritized all these really fun features."

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

Distribution is the new bottleneck

[Matthew Kobach @mkobach]

“Now I think people are going to be much more focused on marketing on distribution”

AI can’t solve distribution

[TBPN @tbpn]

BREAKING: $SNAP hits $1B ARR in direct revenue as Snapchat+ tops 25M subscribers.

CEO @evanspiegel will be live in the Ultradome at 1:30p PT to discuss.

[Snap Inc. @Snap]

Strong momentum in Q4 2025 💪

Our community reached 946M MAU, revenue grew to $1.72B, and over 700M Snapchatters have engaged with Gen AI Lenses more than 17B times.

Read the full report: https://t.co/nDlIAzA3uH

[Snap Inc. @Snap]

Introducing Specs Inc. Today, we’re establishing Specs Inc. as a distinct subsidiary within Snap Inc. Built to make computing more human, Specs blend digital experiences with the real world. Want to help build what’s next? We’re hiring.

Learn more: https://t.co/QL00b769HN

[The Story Is @CNNTheStoryIs]

“What’s so inspiring to us and what motivates us is how many people want to return home, want to rebuild and want the support to do that,” @evanspiegel said.

He told @Elex_Michaelson about creating the Department of Angels to help those affected by the LA fires. #snapchat #ceo

[The Story Is @CNNTheStoryIs]

“In a wild turn of events, our office parking lot became the fire camp for firefighters from all over the country," @evanspiegel said.

The @Snapchat CEO and cofounder joined @Elex_Michaelson on set and described what he experienced during the Palisades fire one year ago.