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Jack Dorsey Takes Over Product Again at Twitter as Executive Chairman
- bpeters 16y agoHopefully he can bring a working monetization model with him.
- horatiumocian 16y agoI think Jack will concentrate on the product, the monetization part will be left to Dick Costolo.
- brown9-2 16y agoCan the two really be separated like this?
- ryanhuff 16y agoWhat happened to Ev? I thought he was supposed to be the product guy.
- horatiumocian 16y agoEv is involved less and less (from the TechCrunch article). Maybe he is preparing for his next venture.
- staunch 16y agoEveryone initially believes they can "focus" on two big things at the same time. No one can. He's about to learn this lesson the hard way.
- pclark 16y agolike Steve Jobs with Apple and Pixar? like Elon Musk with Tesla and SpaceX? like Peter Thiel with Founders Fund and Clarium Capital?
- michaeldhopkins 16y agoWhat's going wrong with Tesla or SpaceX? They both seem successful to me.
- gyardley 16y agoThe parent comment is trying to point out that it is in fact possible to focus on two things at once.
- michaeldhopkins 16y agoIt's hard to tell because, as others have said, it's not clear that everyone on the list is successfully focusing on two projects.
- keiferski 16y agoI think that's the point - Musk is running both successfully.
- rudiger 16y agoClarium Capital has been performing terribly for years. However, I agree with your general point (that it is possible for one person to focus on two large projects).
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- citricsquid 16y agoAny thoughts on why he'd choose to do this when he is focusing on Square? Could it be that he disagrees with what's happening with Twitter and wants to steer it in the direction he wants it to go?
- jgilliam 16y agoMy guess is that he just really loves the product, and now that Ev and Biz are AWOL, he can actually do what he wants with it. It's also a great PR response to the #dickbar.
- ryanhuff 16y agoWho knows what motivates a person, but strictly from an opportunity perspective, Twitter is a more certain outcome than Square. If NFC on the phone takes off, then Square technology may soon become antiquated. This move certainly doesn't bode well for Square, though.
- dotBen 16y agoNot wanting to go off-topic but we're a long way away from NFC taking off in any time you could reasonably describe as "soon". It's available on one semi-beta phone and that's it.
- 18pfsmt 16y agoIt's important to note that most of what Square brings to the table is not hardware. It acquires merchant transactions and manages payment risk. Square can simply support other hardware technology, but their focus is on the merchant side.
- brown9-2 16y agoIs it a great PR response? It seems to me that a move like this helps solidify the #dickbar as a failure, and shows the company acknowledges it needs to fix the direction (which they have not been willing to state thus far).
- dr_ 16y agoTo paraphrase from LL Cool J: Dont call it a comeback, he's been there before!
- krsgoss 16y agoRocking his peers. Putting suckers in fear.
- samtp 16y agoHow can he expect any loyalty or dedication from his employees after doing this? If I was working for square, I'd be pissed that the leader of the company just cut a significant amount of time from what you're working on everyday.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- ceejayoz 16y ago> If I was working for square, I'd be pissed that the leader of the company just cut a significant amount of time from what you're working on everyday. If I was working for square, I'd wait and see how it went before getting my panties in a twist.
- davidu 16y agoThis is all part of a plan that was laid down some time ago. Jack is a product guy. Tremendously good (evidence being he created both Twitter and Square). Jack is not an operator of a quickly scaling company, or at least, that's what Ev has said on the record more than once. Jack recognizes his strengths and weaknesses. At Twitter his weaknesses were "recognized" for him and he was pushed out as CEO. It was painful and left some damaged bridges. He's been maturing and growing since then and looking back, probably agrees it was the right move even if it was handled the wrong way. Then he founded Square. He got the product launched and hired Keith Rabois, a well-known operator. A hardcore, real operator and business guy. Jack will run product at both companies. Keith will run day to day operations at Square, probably even as CEO. DickC will continue to run day to day operations at Twitter. Jack will play to his strengths and let someone else keep the cash balances in check. With Twitter, Jack was pushed out. With Square, he probably couldn't have hired Keith if there wasn't a plan or timeline in place for Keith to become CEO. * This is all my speculation.
- ganjianwei 16y agoI doubt Keith Rabois joined because he felt he could become CEO. I think you're underestimating the draw of getting to work with someone as good as Jack Dorsey and on a product as exciting (to Keith) as Square.
- davidu 16y agoWhat kind of timeline would you like to lay down a bet? 12 months?
- PakG1 16y agoThis is very strange, because I thought Ev stepped aside as CEO to focus on product.
- MatthewPhillips 16y agoNothing against Jack, but this much management chair swapping is not good for a company. Tells me there is a lot of internal struggle going on. Perhaps the shareholders are pressing for monetization, and Ev pushed back on that (or tried and failed) and now Jack is coming in to give it a try.
- dotBen 16y agoThe management chair swapping occurred when Ev pushed Jack out, and then later realized he was burned out and faded out as Dick stepped in. Having Jack back involved in the company - assuming he is fully committed - is perhaps the best thing that can happen to Twitter right now. New ideas, stability and founder support. I think it's great news for everyone, including us users.
- jonursenbach 16y agoCan't help but wonder how Square's investors feel about this.
- akronim 16y agoIt's not all bad, Square just got in the news again as a result.