Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Says New Hires Must Pitch On Day One—'No Context, No Prep, Just An Idea!'

Imagine walking into your new job, and before figuring out where the coffee machine is, you’re told to pitch an idea. No Context, no prep, just an idea—on-the-spot brainstorming.

That’s precisely how things go at Snap Inc. SNAP. CEO Evan Spiegel recently shared on “The Diary of a CEO" podcast that new designers are expected to present an idea on day one despite knowing little about what the company is working on.

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Creativity Hack or Chaos in Disguise?

Spiegel believes the shock factor works. His logic? If you bomb early, the fear of failure fades fast. “Ninety-nine percent of ideas are not good—but 1% is,” he said on the podcast, adding that cranking out as many ideas as possible is the best way to find the winners.

Not everyone agrees. Award-winning keynote speaker on creativity and innovation, artificial intelligence, and sustainability, James Taylor, said on his “SuperCreativity Podcast, ” 

“Ideas don’t arrive fully formed; they go through layers, stages—what I like to call the five levels of an idea.” He emphasizes that ideas evolve through stages of refinement before reaching their full potential. 

He adds that the process begins in a ‘'Sacred Space'’ of personal reflection, progresses through sharing with trusted individuals and broader social testing, advances to public experimentation via short-form content, and culminates on the ‘Big Stage’ where the idea is fully developed and ready for widespread presentation. 

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Amy Edmondson, a professor of leadership and management at Harvard Business School, raised similar concerns. 

In a 2024 People Matters interview titled “From Failing Fast to Failing Smart,” Edmondson explores how "intelligent failures" can drive learning and innovation in today's volatile work environment, emphasizing that leaders must build safe spaces for experimentation while maintaining accountability.

She explains that psychological safety isn't about lowering standards but rather enabling smart risk‑taking and continuous improvement. 

Snap has always embraced risk. The company was the first to introduce disappearing photos and videos, setting the stage for the “Stories” format that later spread to Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

That willingness to take chances has led to big wins—but also a few flops. Snap introduced Spectacles, camera-equipped sunglasses, in 2016. However, the company overestimated demand, leading to a $40 million loss due to unsold inventory and order cancellations.

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And in 2018, a Snapchat redesign was so disliked that 1.2 million users signed a petition to change it back. None of this seems to rattle Spiegel. 

He even poked fun at how Instagram keeps copying Snapchat’s features. At one point, his LinkedIn bio jokingly read, “VP Product @ Meta.” It turns out that it was an inside joke from a Snap employee, but the message was clear: they knew the competition was watching.

Some argue that Snap’s first-day challenge is a great way to push employees past their fears. Others say it’s just unnecessary stress. According to Project Co’s Communication Statistics 2025 report, 43% of survey respondents have experienced burnout, stress, and fatigue due to workplace communication and guidance issues.

Then again, some of the world’s most successful companies swear by high-pressure environments. Elon Musk, for example, is famous for setting impossible deadlines at Tesla, believing urgency leads to breakthroughs. “If something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor,” he said in an interview with "60 Minutes" in 2012.

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