Instr Function Returns Zero

i have a very basic function using instr as follows:

ins = 0
Dim x As Integer
Dim y As Integer

findst = "["
finden = "]"

x = InStr(ins, oldstrgFd, findst, vbTextCompare)
y = InStr(ins, oldstrgFd, finden, vbTextCompare)

Debug.Print x,y

oldstrgFd in the example is populated with

[ClientName] Planning Workshop
[FeedbackLocation], [FeedbackDate]
[FeedbackPresenters]

I am expecting this the first positions of the square brackets, but x and y both return 0.