Everyone in tech is so 'serious all the time': Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel

Snapchat co-founder and CEO Evan Spiegel says his company has a more playful approach to business, which may be one of the reasons its new products have proven so popular with users. During a recent interview at the annual advertising festival, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Spiegel said the concept of "fun" and "being playful" is something that "takes the pressure off being creative".

"In tech in particular, everyone is so serious all the time and has these grand visions. But we really enjoy that people like having fun and want to be happy, and enjoy being with one another. That's just as important," Spiegel said.

"One of the saddest things that happens with creativity... I think sometimes it isn't expressed because of fear. Everyone is born very, very creative. But at some point it can be scary to try to do something new. I think a lot of the time creativity is about doing things that are unusual, unexpected and not immediately perceived to be popular," said Spiegel.

An example of this from his own experience was Snapchat Stories: "For the first six months no one used it," according to Spiegel. Now Snapchat is making serious money from Stories, around $4,00,000 (Rs 2,54,45,900 approx) per Story, per day, according to Re/code. Spiegel had some advice for brands too, "It's weird when brands try to act like your pal. I think there's some nuance — it's important to be friendly, but not a buddy."

He also gave an insight into what it's like working at Snapchat, revealing that the company probably only releases "1-2 per cent" of the products it works on. Like other tech businesses, Snapchat encourages the idea of 'failing fast'. Spiegel said it's better that those failures happen in private before being released on users.

In terms of culture, Spiegel said, "We do stuff that's kind of hippy I guess." Spiegel explained that each week, groups of 10 people within the business "talk about how we feel about things," adding that listening to how people feel is a core value of the company.