CEO Crush: Evan Spiegel, Snapchat's Smart & Stylish Co-Founder

Big Deal, Big Rejection

-On November 13, the Wall Street Journal reported the spurn that shook up the tech world. -Apparently, social media titan Facebook offered the Snapchat creators $3 Billion (Billion!) in cash to acquire the company. And what did Evan, the daring entrepreneur, do? He totally rejected Facebook. (We bet Mark Zuckerberg's skin is still warm from that burn.) -So was the move a massive mistake or a bold precursor of future success? The jury's still out on that one. On the one hand, Snapchat hasn't made any revenue yet. On the other hand, their last round of funding brought in $60 Million, bringing the value of that cute little ghost to an impressive $800 Mil. Still, a lot of it is venture capital—not quite $3 Billion in cash. -But fret not, lovers of lewd photos and funny faces, the snaps are likely to keep on coming. According to Benchmark Capital partner Mitch Lasky, one of Snapchat’s early investors,

“At Benchmark we search for entrepreneurs who want to change the world, and Evan and Bobby certainly have that ambition. We believe that Snapchat can become one of the most important mobile companies in the world.”

[Photo: Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy via]