Hey readers, come along on an exploratory profile of Bobby Murphy, the lesser-known co-visionary responsible for developing Snapchat into a cultural zeitgeist and technical innovator. I‘ll unravel Murphy‘s early programming passions, his pivotal partnership with Evan Spiegel, the secret sauce powering Snapchat‘s exponential growth, Murphy‘s low-key lifestyle today and his expanding influence in augmented reality.
From Catholic School Kid to Stanford Computational Wiz
Before changing social media‘s trajectory in his early 20s, Murphy grew up worlds away in Berkeley, CA. His Filipino mother and Irish-American father sent Murphy to a traditional Roman Catholic primary school. He then headed across the Bay to attend Saint Mary‘s College High School.
Murphy excelled in math and programming courses. He chose Stanford University for the school‘s renown computer science program. There Murphy pursued his interests in computational science and cryptography as an undergraduate.
He joined Stanford‘s Kappa Sigma fraternity in 2008. This fateful move precipitated meeting future Snapchat co-founders Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown. Murphy and Spiegel immediately bonded over nightly philosophical debates at the Kappa Sigma house. Their friendship laid the seeds for a future business partnership.
The Snapchat Sparks – From Failure to Funding
Right after college in 2011, Murphy and Spiegel launched their first endeavor – a student advice startup called Future Freshman with friend Reggie Brown. The company sputtered out but the trio rebounded quickly.
Spiegel recalls walking with Brown discussing disappearing photos. Brown suggested called the app Picaboo. Murphy got to work building a Picaboo prototype for sending auto-deleting pictures. He leveraged his engineering skills from a day job at point-of-sale tech company Revel Systems.
The founders couldn‘t attract investors initially. But Murphy doubled down, using half his salary to buy servers to keep Picaboo operational. Their big break came when esteemed VC firm Lightspeed took notice, investing $485k. Picaboo was off and running, rebranding as Snapchat.
CTO Murphy – Architecting the Foundation for Growth
With funding secured, Murphy focused fully on Snapchat as Chief Technology Officer. He built Snapchat‘s infrastructure supporting exponential account and engagement increases into the hundreds of millions by 2014.
Murphy pushed product innovation too. He led engineering for seminal features like ephemeral messaging, Stories, geolocation Lenses and Camera Kit. These fueled Snapchat‘s popularity and identity.
For perspective, check Snapchat‘s hockey stick growth under Murphy‘s technical guidance:
| Year | Daily Snaps Sent | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 25 million | – |
| 2013 | 350 million | $800 million |
| 2014 | 700 million | $10 billion |
| 2016 | 2.5 billion | $17.8 billion |
Murphy also ensured Snapchat scaled reliably as traffic exploded. And he laid infrastructure enabling future computer vision endeavors.
Ousting Co-Founder Reggie Brown
However, tensions erupted as Snapchat took off. Murphy and Spiegel stripped co-founder Reggie Brown of equity in 2013 without any payout, alleging Brown didn‘t contribute technology.
Brown sued, providing evidence showing he named the app and designed the original ghost logo. Brown ultimately netted a $158 million settlement and official Snapchat creation credit.
The ugly fallout spotlighted Murphy and Spiegel‘s cutthroat ambition. But their vision to evolve Snapchat into a camera and AR company kept users hooked.
Leading Spectacles and Snap‘s Evolution into AR
After Snapchat‘s 2017 IPO minted Murphy a billionaire, he turned to new frontiers in wearable cameras and augmented reality computing. Murphy created Snap Lab‘s inaugural Spectacles product in 2016 – internet-connected sunglasses with built-in cameras.
He envisioned overlaying computing vision onto reality, foreshadowing AR glasses. Snapchat now frames its identity around AR, calling itself a "camera company". They are poised to shape augmented reality‘s future with Murphy‘s technical architecture in place.
The Ultra-Private Life of New Media Mogul Bobby Murphy
Given Snapchat‘s pervasiveness among millennials, Murphy leads an absurdedly low-key lifestyle. He maintains just one Twitter account with zero tweets.
He met wife Kelsey several years before Snapchat at Stanford. Besides a few house purchases spotted in real estate records, Murphy avoids public sightings.
An early employee said Murphy sported ratty shoes and tees around Snapchat‘s office then. But his unassuming affect belies Murphy‘s influence.
Forbes pegged Murphy‘s net worth still at a formidable $4.9 billion. He controls 6.3% of Snap Inc.‘s stock and 44% of voting shares, ensuring major decision-making power.
| Shareholder | Snap Inc. Shares Owned | Total Voting Power |
|---|---|---|
| Bobby Murphy | 21.8% Class A 2% Class B 50% Class C |
44% |
| Evan Spiegel | 14.5% Class A 10.3% Class B 37.9% Class C |
44.3% |
Murphy is already steering Snapchat‘s future apply his tech vision. And Spectacles AR rollout aims at fundamentally shifting computing‘s dimensions. For an unassuming coding phenom who rebuilt messaging as ephemeral, expect Murphy to continue leading unlikely revolutions.
So that‘s the complete backstory of the mysterious Bobby Murphy. He engineered the rocketship rise of Snapchat and is now pioneering augmented reality‘s future with Spectacles. What aspect of Murphy‘s journey behind the scenes intrigues you most? Let me know!
