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Twitter Ex-CEO Costolo Plans Fitness Startup, Joins VC Firm

49 points by pavornyoh 11y ago

akhilcacharya 11y ago
This is very interesting, but one thing from the announcements was very interesting to me - is it common for people to release press releases by screenshotting the notes on their phones?
- nathancahill 11y ago
  It's common to tweet screenshots of notes to get around the 140 character limit on Twitter. This wasn't a press release.
  - Mahn 11y ago
    https://twitter.com/dickc/status/689454657832226816 https://twitter.com/dickc/status/689454657832226816 Strange choice, but I suppose he wanted to use twitter at all costs.
  - achow 11y ago
    Yes. Jack Dorsey did exactly the same when announcing the plan for removal of 140 character limit. https://twitter.com/jack/status/684496529621557248/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/jack/status/684496529621557248/photo/1?r...
larrymyers 11y ago
Sounds like a startup I used to work for here in Chicago: https://www.retrofitme.com/howitworks https://www.retrofitme.com/howitworks While expensive, the combination of tech and actual trained wellness experts was very successful and getting people to adopt healthier lifestyles.
melted 11y ago
This is the default startup idea for people who don't know what to do. :-)
- w1ntermute 11y ago
  Either fitness or travel planning: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10923143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10923143
  - rdl 11y ago
    Not photo management?
- eclipxe 11y ago
  So right it hurts. http://www.bodyko.com http://www.bodyko.com ;-)
- sulam 11y ago
  He is very personally tied to fitness -- by far the most "fit" CEO I've ever known. Huge into CrossFit, he spent a ton of time in the gym at Twitter. It's not surprising at all that he would go in this direction, and it comes from a very authentic place for him. I'm just surprised he didn't weave beekeeping into it. ;)
overcast 11y ago
Oh brother.
tptacek 11y ago
Dick Costolo has been a startup person since the mid-90s; one of his first companies, BurningDoor, was hosted at the ISP I ran tech for. He's a good guy. Or, I mean, he was last time I talked to him.
- jroseattle 11y ago
  I knew Dick when he was at FeedBurner (before they were acquired.) He's been a pretty good guy for quite a while.
trollian 11y ago
So many clichés in one headline...
iamleppert 11y ago
"Fun & Social" ! Great, another way to tell the world about how many miles you walked... Excuse me please while I go live in a yurt...
lvs 11y ago
"Twitter Ex-CEO Costolo Has No Great Ideas, Plans Fitness Startup, Joins VC Firm Instead"
dang 11y ago
The vitriol in a bunch of these comments makes me ashamed of this community. If you just want to be mean about someone, kindly do it elsewhere.
- forgetsusername 11y ago
  >The vitriol in a bunch of these comments makes me ashamed of this community. Disclaimer: I don't know the first thing about Mr. Costolo, besides his association with Twitter. Sometimes the unabashed fawning over everything tech and our Venture Capital overlords makes me ashamed of this community.
  - dang 11y ago
    I don't see much "unabashed fawning", but even if you were right, it isn't hard to avoid either of these. In fact it's trivial if one wants to.
- commentzorro 11y ago
  Maybe you're seeing this because so many startups these days seem to target upper middle class millennials by stepping between them and how they spend their money: start-up leeches. They do little except skim money going some place else under the "social" moniker by targeting people who are (1) unmarried, (2) mostly 18-34, and (3) have disposable income. They may even truly provide temporary value to that narrow community, but they're societal insulators building more of a divide between the upper middle class and the poor, between the young and the old, and between the haves and the have nots. After all these years of stepping in the middle, maybe we want to see some of the VCs not targeting skimming money going some place else but instead, creating a startup that doesn't concentrate on "bringing the most money to founders and shareholders" but moves society around others who do. Even if that means their startup won't get them a seat at the billionaire's table. --eat the rich Are we getting hungry yet?
  - dang 11y ago
    I think you're mostly projecting here. Even if you were right, though, trying to get the rage needle in the red is the wrong way to approach the subject here. The HN community is genuinely interested in these problems.

49 points by pavornyoh 11y ago

This is very interesting, but one thing from the announcements was very interesting to me - is it common for people to release press releases by screenshotting the notes on their phones?

nathancahill 11y ago
It's common to tweet screenshots of notes to get around the 140 character limit on Twitter. This wasn't a press release.
- Mahn 11y ago
  https://twitter.com/dickc/status/689454657832226816 https://twitter.com/dickc/status/689454657832226816 Strange choice, but I suppose he wanted to use twitter at all costs.
- achow 11y ago
  Yes. Jack Dorsey did exactly the same when announcing the plan for removal of 140 character limit. https://twitter.com/jack/status/684496529621557248/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw https://twitter.com/jack/status/684496529621557248/photo/1?r...

larrymyers 11y ago

Sounds like a startup I used to work for here in Chicago: https://www.retrofitme.com/howitworks https://www.retrofitme.com/howitworks While expensive, the combination of tech and actual trained wellness experts was very successful and getting people to adopt healthier lifestyles.

melted 11y ago

This is the default startup idea for people who don't know what to do. :-)

w1ntermute 11y ago
Either fitness or travel planning: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10923143 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10923143
- rdl 11y ago
  Not photo management?
eclipxe 11y ago
So right it hurts. http://www.bodyko.com http://www.bodyko.com ;-)
sulam 11y ago
He is very personally tied to fitness -- by far the most "fit" CEO I've ever known. Huge into CrossFit, he spent a ton of time in the gym at Twitter. It's not surprising at all that he would go in this direction, and it comes from a very authentic place for him. I'm just surprised he didn't weave beekeeping into it. ;)

overcast 11y ago

Oh brother.

tptacek 11y ago

Dick Costolo has been a startup person since the mid-90s; one of his first companies, BurningDoor, was hosted at the ISP I ran tech for. He's a good guy. Or, I mean, he was last time I talked to him.

jroseattle 11y ago
I knew Dick when he was at FeedBurner (before they were acquired.) He's been a pretty good guy for quite a while.

trollian 11y ago

So many clichés in one headline...

iamleppert 11y ago

"Fun & Social" ! Great, another way to tell the world about how many miles you walked... Excuse me please while I go live in a yurt...

lvs 11y ago

"Twitter Ex-CEO Costolo Has No Great Ideas, Plans Fitness Startup, Joins VC Firm Instead"

dang 11y ago

The vitriol in a bunch of these comments makes me ashamed of this community. If you just want to be mean about someone, kindly do it elsewhere.

forgetsusername 11y ago
>The vitriol in a bunch of these comments makes me ashamed of this community. Disclaimer: I don't know the first thing about Mr. Costolo, besides his association with Twitter. Sometimes the unabashed fawning over everything tech and our Venture Capital overlords makes me ashamed of this community.
- dang 11y ago
  I don't see much "unabashed fawning", but even if you were right, it isn't hard to avoid either of these. In fact it's trivial if one wants to.
commentzorro 11y ago
Maybe you're seeing this because so many startups these days seem to target upper middle class millennials by stepping between them and how they spend their money: start-up leeches. They do little except skim money going some place else under the "social" moniker by targeting people who are (1) unmarried, (2) mostly 18-34, and (3) have disposable income. They may even truly provide temporary value to that narrow community, but they're societal insulators building more of a divide between the upper middle class and the poor, between the young and the old, and between the haves and the have nots. After all these years of stepping in the middle, maybe we want to see some of the VCs not targeting skimming money going some place else but instead, creating a startup that doesn't concentrate on "bringing the most money to founders and shareholders" but moves society around others who do. Even if that means their startup won't get them a seat at the billionaire's table. --eat the rich Are we getting hungry yet?
- dang 11y ago
  I think you're mostly projecting here. Even if you were right, though, trying to get the rage needle in the red is the wrong way to approach the subject here. The HN community is genuinely interested in these problems.