Touching Story of Idris Sandu, Tech Genius Behind Uber, Instagram and Snapchat

Idris Sandu

At just 21, Iddris Sandu is the tech genius behind Uber, Instagram and Snapchat.

8 years old Sandu was abandoned by his father in Africa. At the age of 10 he started learning programming on his own for two years at a public library in the US. This was where he got spotted by a designer from Google, who offered him an internship opportunity at the company’s headquarters.

Today Sandu in a major influencer in the tech world, and is a driving force of positive change in workplace culture and participation in STEM.

In addition to being an innovator, the Los Angeleno is an activist. He discovered his love of tech after being taken from California as a child by his father and abandoned in a small village in his father’s home country of Ghana. Sandu figured out how to get back home to the United States using the first-ever iPhone which is what motivated him to pursue a career in technology. The iPhone was the first time that users could create applications for other users.

At age 10, Sandu was discovered by a Google designer while in a public library, who promptly offered him an internship. By age 13, Sandu was programming for Google Blogger and Google Plus and the rest is history.

Writing for Face2FaceAfrica.com, Mildred Europa Taylor features Sandu whose technological contributions have been used by major companies like Uber, Instagram and Snapchat. Taylor writes:

“He was only 16 years old. Now 21, the Los Angeles-based young man is the unconventional tech guru who has accomplished many incredible feats, including being responsible for algorithms that have made Uber, Instagram and Snapchat what they are today.

Credit: Black Press USA