The decision to spin Instapaper out of Pinterest was made in early 2018, as I felt it was important to keep the product alive and aligned with its original mission. I believe Instapaper can continue to be self-sustainable based on existing usage and a reasonable conversion rate from free to paid subscriptions.

Pinterest acquired Instapaper in August 2016 after a lengthy negotiation process that began in December 2015, driven by interest from both Pinterest and other media companies.

I recommended that Instapaper either be treated as a business unit within Pinterest or spun out into an independent company, as it didn't align with Pinterest's top-line metrics.

In late 2016, I proposed several options for Instapaper's future, including staffing a dedicated team or putting it in maintenance mode, ultimately deciding to keep it running with minimal resources.

I didn't discover Pinterest; my team recognized its potential, and I was impressed by Ben Silbermann's calm and thoughtful approach as a founder.

After the acquisition, I was tasked with maintaining Instapaper while also focusing on my work at Pinterest, dedicating a few hours each week to updates and server maintenance.

The launch of Pocket as a free competitor in 2012 led to a decline in Instapaper's downloads, prompting Marco Arment to consider the future of Instapaper and eventually sell it to Beta Works.

After being acquired by Beta Works, I joined Instapaper as an iOS developer in 2013, where I advocated for transitioning Instapaper to a freemium model due to the strong competition from free apps.

By September 2014, we officially made Instapaper free and launched a new subscription pricing model, which led to a recovery in revenue and a growth trajectory for the app.