Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom says ‘no hard feelings’ with Facebook

Systrom and co-founder Mike Krieger left Instagram last month after increased tension with Facebook over the direction of the product.

“When you leave anything, there are reasons for leaving,” Kevin Systrom said. (AFP)

Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, in his first public appearance since leaving the photo-sharing app, said he felt comfortable moving on because it was already on a path to broader success at parent company, Facebook Inc.

"It didn't feel done by any stretch of the imagination, but it felt like it was in orbit, and if we let go and let others take it, it would continue to do very well," Systrom said on stage Monday at the Wired25 conference in San Francisco. "We got to 1 billion users, we were making a bunch of money and I was proud of the business we built."

Systrom and co-founder Mike Krieger left Instagram last month after increased tension with Facebook over the direction of the product, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

"When you leave anything, there are reasons for leaving," Systrom said, without addressing tension directly. "Nobody ever leaves a job because everything's awesome."

Still, he said "there are no hard feelings at all" with Facebook. Systrom said he's spending his time with his 9-month-old daughter, learning to fly planes, helping startups he has invested in and thinking about the next company he might build.