7 ms·

Jack Dorsey Joins Disney’s Board Of Directors

88 points by dko 13y ago

mkrecny 13y ago
And the mimicry of Steve Jobs continues.
- otoburb 13y ago
  Does Dorsey also scream at his subordinates? I thought he had a calmer persona.
  - mkrecny 13y ago
    I'm not sure how he treats his 'subordinates'. I recently read 'Hatching Twitter', in which he's portrayed as a ruthless manipulator.
    - xux 13y ago
      Just read the description on Amazon, • Evan “Ev” Williams, the ambitious farm boy from Clarks, Nebraska, who had already created Blogger and sold it to Google for millions. Quiet and protective... • Jack Dorsey, the tattooed “nobody” who helped mastermind the original concept of Twitter, became a billionaire tech titan... Anyone else find it funny how Medium and Stripe exactly portray those two personalities?
      - djcapelis 13y ago
        Perhaps you meant square, not stripe?
        xux 13y ago
        My bad, yes square.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
- onedev 13y ago
  I feel like people who say this do it to downplay his accomplishments. It's a very negative tone.
  - mkrecny 13y ago
    Yes, it's a negative tone. My feeling is that he unjustifiably self-identifies with Jobs. As mentioned, I've recently read 'Hatching Twitter' and it paints him in an unseemly light. I don't see how the comment is downplaying his accomplishments though.
    - onedev 13y ago
      Interesting. I haven't really read that book but it seems that most really successful people have had to behave in very cutthroat ways no? Of course I may be saying this with subject to some selection bias. We have our standard set of Bill Gates, Zuck, Steve Jobs, Jack Dorsey, etc to provide some weight to the statement but I'm sure there are many many noble leaders that I haven't heard of that weren't as ruthless but maybe that's why they haven't achieved the same level of success? I'm not sure. I'd love to read the book but I'd love it even more if you could give an overview of the sentiments echoed in "Hatching Twitter". In any case, I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you that Jack is an unlikable person, but was simply pointing out that almost every time someone has said "Oh he thinks he's Steve Jobs", it's often to downplay the story at hand. It's cool that Jack is on the board of Disney, that a significant accomplishment.
      - mkrecny 13y ago
        > I'd love to read the book but I'd love it even more if you could give an overview of the sentiments echoed in "Hatching Twitter". The book credits him with seeding the concept for Twitter, but certainly not for fleshing it out. At a very early stage, Jack was ousted as CEO and left with no role at Twitter other than a board seat with no actual voting rights. While the rest of the team made the product what it is today, and scaled the business to .5bn users, Jack was on the outside doing nothing. Despite this he pandered extensively to the media lying about his non-existent role at the company and daubing himself the 'inventor' of Twitter. All that said, I've enjoyed watching some of Jack's talks, and I think Square is incredible (more so than Twitter).
alphadog 13y ago
That's a pretty cushy salary - isn't? Anyone know how much a new Disney board member gets paid?
- mikeyouse 13y ago
  As of 2011, about $250k/year. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000119312512018794/d278555ddef14a.htm#toc278555_9 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/0001193125120... But they were in the process of increasing it by about $30k, so probably closer to $300k/year now.
- bhaile 13y ago
  http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2013/annual/proxy-2013.pdf http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2013/annual/pro... Sheryl Sandberg made $274K in 2012 being on the board at Disney as an example.
- bluthru 13y ago
  Is there a cushier job than being a board member?
  - nostrademons 13y ago
    Being on the board of a publicly-traded company also opens yourself up to a lot of personal liability, as you're legally bound to act in the best interest of shareholders. I personally would not want the job; if I were wealthy & accomplished enough to be offered a board membership, I'd much rather have a quiet life out of the public eye than wrestle with concerns of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that needs to satisfy many different constituencies. Being on the board of a non-profit, however, can be pretty cool. You usually don't get a salary for that though.
    - 001sky 13y ago
      They have insurance for this tho, I thought. Its paid for by the company. That being said, once upon a time this was a much better job than it is today, but for other reasons.
sown 13y ago
Kudos to him. I'm not bitter or upset but I'm thinking: Why can't I think of stuff people want? Maybe I don't know how to listen? He's a human, just like me, but I can't do anything. Maybe asking this question is a first signal of failure, or at least that I'm of a wrong mindset, that separates a good entrepreneur, whom wouldn't ask that question and just go do it, from people like me. If his WP page is accurate, it's not like he didn't have startups that didn't work out but he still made it.
- trafnar 13y ago
  It's not about good ideas, its about their implementation's good design.
  - sown 13y ago
    > It's not about good ideas, its about their implementation's good design. That's true, and I've heard it often. But I have to have some idea to do, and the skill or smarts to pull it off.
    - auctiontheory 13y ago
      Read James Altucher's blog, and his books. Among other things, he recommends a daily exercise of coming up with ten ideas on some topic.[1] Do it. Every day. And see what happens. (Yes, I do it. Every day.) [1] http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-machine/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-m...
- bobbles 13y ago
  Well if you think back to the release of twitter the overwhelming response on most tech sites was that it was stupid/useless/waste of time, etc... ("Why would I want SMS restrictions on the web?!") Maybe you need to get out of the tech-site bubble :)
  - sown 13y ago
    > Maybe you need to get out of the tech-site bubble :) Yeah, maybe. i don't use social stuff too much, but I'm mostly experienced with enterprise stuff. Not sure how to talk to them, too, or even what their problems really are.
amckenna 13y ago
It's worth checking out the NYT piece on the rise of Twitter and the role Dorsey played. His rise to fame was a tumultuous one and while he is no doubt a talented individual he is credited with more than he actually created. It will be interesting to see how his influence develops and shapes Disney's future. "Ideas rarely, if ever, come from the mind of a single person, but those who go down in lore as visionaries take credit for them as if they do. Dorsey seemed to understand this intrinsically, too.” "By this point, many Twitter investors believed what Dorsey had been telling the media for the past two years. More important, they knew the public did. He could be an effective public face of Twitter as Costolo managed the operations. The board was grateful for the $25 million that Costolo arranged in deals with Microsoft and Google, and he had a good rapport with Twitter employees. A pact between all of the investors was formed. By late September, Costolo was told that he had been picked to be interim C.E.O. Williams was out. Dorsey was back in." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/magazine/all-is-fair-in-love-and-twitter.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/magazine/all-is-fair-in-lo...
- pjbrunet 13y ago
  Noah Glass deserves all the credit, IMO. http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-cofounder-noah-glass-2011-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-cofounder-noah-glass-... "Originally, (Twitter) was all running on my laptop on my desk. An IBM Thinkpad. Using a Verizon wireless card. It was right there on my desk. I could just pick it up and take it anywhere in the world. That was a really fun time."
  - belluchan 13y ago
    Calling him a founder seems to be a stretch based on Twitter's official comments on the matter. He wrote the code. He was an engineer employed by Odeo. That doesn't mean he's a "founder." I don't know which side is true, but my sense is that calling him a "founder" is tech linkbait.
    - wyclif 13y ago
      He didn't call Glass a founder. He implied Glass wrote all the early code and essentially built Twitter, and said he deserves all the credit for that early building out. I really don't have a problem with putting it that way. That's true based on everything I understand about the Twitter backstory (and confirmed by Noah, Ev, Biz, Jason, and Jack himself).
lowglow 13y ago
I personally find a lot of inspiration visiting the Disney Family Museum here in SF (http://www.waltdisney.org/ http://www.waltdisney.org/). Whenever I feel like I need a bit of a kick to see how a man can go against all odds to realize his dreams, I visit the museum. It may be dull to some, but the quotes alone make it worthwhile. I find I might owe to Disney and his product some of the push I have. It may pay off for some of you to take a visit.
david_otoole 13y ago
Please insist on a better script for the next Tron movie.

88 points by dko 13y ago

mkrecny 13y ago

And the mimicry of Steve Jobs continues.

otoburb 13y ago
Does Dorsey also scream at his subordinates? I thought he had a calmer persona.
- mkrecny 13y ago
  I'm not sure how he treats his 'subordinates'. I recently read 'Hatching Twitter', in which he's portrayed as a ruthless manipulator.
  - xux 13y ago
    Just read the description on Amazon, • Evan “Ev” Williams, the ambitious farm boy from Clarks, Nebraska, who had already created Blogger and sold it to Google for millions. Quiet and protective... • Jack Dorsey, the tattooed “nobody” who helped mastermind the original concept of Twitter, became a billionaire tech titan... Anyone else find it funny how Medium and Stripe exactly portray those two personalities?
    - djcapelis 13y ago
      Perhaps you meant square, not stripe?
      - xux 13y ago
        My bad, yes square.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
onedev 13y ago
I feel like people who say this do it to downplay his accomplishments. It's a very negative tone.
- mkrecny 13y ago
  Yes, it's a negative tone. My feeling is that he unjustifiably self-identifies with Jobs. As mentioned, I've recently read 'Hatching Twitter' and it paints him in an unseemly light. I don't see how the comment is downplaying his accomplishments though.
  - onedev 13y ago
    Interesting. I haven't really read that book but it seems that most really successful people have had to behave in very cutthroat ways no? Of course I may be saying this with subject to some selection bias. We have our standard set of Bill Gates, Zuck, Steve Jobs, Jack Dorsey, etc to provide some weight to the statement but I'm sure there are many many noble leaders that I haven't heard of that weren't as ruthless but maybe that's why they haven't achieved the same level of success? I'm not sure. I'd love to read the book but I'd love it even more if you could give an overview of the sentiments echoed in "Hatching Twitter". In any case, I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with you that Jack is an unlikable person, but was simply pointing out that almost every time someone has said "Oh he thinks he's Steve Jobs", it's often to downplay the story at hand. It's cool that Jack is on the board of Disney, that a significant accomplishment.
    - mkrecny 13y ago
      > I'd love to read the book but I'd love it even more if you could give an overview of the sentiments echoed in "Hatching Twitter". The book credits him with seeding the concept for Twitter, but certainly not for fleshing it out. At a very early stage, Jack was ousted as CEO and left with no role at Twitter other than a board seat with no actual voting rights. While the rest of the team made the product what it is today, and scaled the business to .5bn users, Jack was on the outside doing nothing. Despite this he pandered extensively to the media lying about his non-existent role at the company and daubing himself the 'inventor' of Twitter. All that said, I've enjoyed watching some of Jack's talks, and I think Square is incredible (more so than Twitter).

alphadog 13y ago

That's a pretty cushy salary - isn't? Anyone know how much a new Disney board member gets paid?

mikeyouse 13y ago
As of 2011, about $250k/year. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/000119312512018794/d278555ddef14a.htm#toc278555_9 http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1001039/0001193125120... But they were in the process of increasing it by about $30k, so probably closer to $300k/year now.
bhaile 13y ago
http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2013/annual/proxy-2013.pdf http://cdn.media.ir.thewaltdisneycompany.com/2013/annual/pro... Sheryl Sandberg made $274K in 2012 being on the board at Disney as an example.
bluthru 13y ago
Is there a cushier job than being a board member?
- nostrademons 13y ago
  Being on the board of a publicly-traded company also opens yourself up to a lot of personal liability, as you're legally bound to act in the best interest of shareholders. I personally would not want the job; if I were wealthy & accomplished enough to be offered a board membership, I'd much rather have a quiet life out of the public eye than wrestle with concerns of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that needs to satisfy many different constituencies. Being on the board of a non-profit, however, can be pretty cool. You usually don't get a salary for that though.
  - 001sky 13y ago
    They have insurance for this tho, I thought. Its paid for by the company. That being said, once upon a time this was a much better job than it is today, but for other reasons.

sown 13y ago

Kudos to him. I'm not bitter or upset but I'm thinking: Why can't I think of stuff people want? Maybe I don't know how to listen? He's a human, just like me, but I can't do anything. Maybe asking this question is a first signal of failure, or at least that I'm of a wrong mindset, that separates a good entrepreneur, whom wouldn't ask that question and just go do it, from people like me. If his WP page is accurate, it's not like he didn't have startups that didn't work out but he still made it.

trafnar 13y ago
It's not about good ideas, its about their implementation's good design.
- sown 13y ago
  > It's not about good ideas, its about their implementation's good design. That's true, and I've heard it often. But I have to have some idea to do, and the skill or smarts to pull it off.
  - auctiontheory 13y ago
    Read James Altucher's blog, and his books. Among other things, he recommends a daily exercise of coming up with ten ideas on some topic.[1] Do it. Every day. And see what happens. (Yes, I do it. Every day.) [1] http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-machine/ http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2012/10/how-to-become-an-idea-m...
bobbles 13y ago
Well if you think back to the release of twitter the overwhelming response on most tech sites was that it was stupid/useless/waste of time, etc... ("Why would I want SMS restrictions on the web?!") Maybe you need to get out of the tech-site bubble :)
- sown 13y ago
  > Maybe you need to get out of the tech-site bubble :) Yeah, maybe. i don't use social stuff too much, but I'm mostly experienced with enterprise stuff. Not sure how to talk to them, too, or even what their problems really are.

amckenna 13y ago

It's worth checking out the NYT piece on the rise of Twitter and the role Dorsey played. His rise to fame was a tumultuous one and while he is no doubt a talented individual he is credited with more than he actually created. It will be interesting to see how his influence develops and shapes Disney's future. "Ideas rarely, if ever, come from the mind of a single person, but those who go down in lore as visionaries take credit for them as if they do. Dorsey seemed to understand this intrinsically, too.” "By this point, many Twitter investors believed what Dorsey had been telling the media for the past two years. More important, they knew the public did. He could be an effective public face of Twitter as Costolo managed the operations. The board was grateful for the $25 million that Costolo arranged in deals with Microsoft and Google, and he had a good rapport with Twitter employees. A pact between all of the investors was formed. By late September, Costolo was told that he had been picked to be interim C.E.O. Williams was out. Dorsey was back in." http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/magazine/all-is-fair-in-love-and-twitter.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/magazine/all-is-fair-in-lo...

pjbrunet 13y ago
Noah Glass deserves all the credit, IMO. http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-cofounder-noah-glass-2011-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-cofounder-noah-glass-... "Originally, (Twitter) was all running on my laptop on my desk. An IBM Thinkpad. Using a Verizon wireless card. It was right there on my desk. I could just pick it up and take it anywhere in the world. That was a really fun time."
- belluchan 13y ago
  Calling him a founder seems to be a stretch based on Twitter's official comments on the matter. He wrote the code. He was an engineer employed by Odeo. That doesn't mean he's a "founder." I don't know which side is true, but my sense is that calling him a "founder" is tech linkbait.
  - wyclif 13y ago
    He didn't call Glass a founder. He implied Glass wrote all the early code and essentially built Twitter, and said he deserves all the credit for that early building out. I really don't have a problem with putting it that way. That's true based on everything I understand about the Twitter backstory (and confirmed by Noah, Ev, Biz, Jason, and Jack himself).

lowglow 13y ago

I personally find a lot of inspiration visiting the Disney Family Museum here in SF (http://www.waltdisney.org/ http://www.waltdisney.org/). Whenever I feel like I need a bit of a kick to see how a man can go against all odds to realize his dreams, I visit the museum. It may be dull to some, but the quotes alone make it worthwhile. I find I might owe to Disney and his product some of the push I have. It may pay off for some of you to take a visit.

david_otoole 13y ago

Please insist on a better script for the next Tron movie.