We didn’t have anything before Twitter that allowed a group of people roaming around a city to communicate instantly, in real time, and in a coordinated way, in a group.
I’d dropped out of college to start design thing.
I was writing and developing software for alumnae to be able to connect and communicate.
I thought I was going to stay at Google, because it was a great place to work.
People are watching TV, they’re watching some clips on their iPhone. I mean, some folks are sitting there on the iPhone, watching the Colbert Report, and meanwhile there’s a huge plasma TV right in front of them that they could be watching it on.
I think of Twitter as a messaging system that you didn’t know you needed until you had it. Think about when cell phones first started coming out. People said, “Why would I carry my phone around?” And now you’ll drive back to your house thirty miles if you forget your cell phone.
There’s a lot of social input when you put these things out there. People’s ideas cross with other people’s thoughts.
We did Twitter, and Twitter grew so fast, and in 2006 we spun it out into Twitter, Inc.
We actually created Twitter and Odeo at the same time. When we realized we didn’t really want to be running Odeo anymore we looked around for anyone who wanted to buy Odeo, but not acquire us as a technology. But people aren’t as interested in that.
You have to think for an email. What’s the subject? What’s it about? It takes two seconds to think about that. So you have to think, Is this a work thing or a social thing? Which? Then you get into a situation that you don’t want to be in, because then people are thinking about it too much.
We can break news really fast. When an earthquake happens, there are people Twittering about it.
When you think about Twitter, there are people all around the world reporting twenty-four seven, every second. They’re reporting what they’re seeing and what’s happening around them. So there’s a lot of potential for breaking news.
I mean just look at haiku, the idea of it. We want to focus on that singularity, on that simplicity, but we still want to add features and add value, but we want to do it in a way that fits in with that mentality of simplicity. You have to spend a lot of time thinking about it.
I mean, even when it’s really simple, there’s so much amazing beautiful creativity that can come out of that.
I think we definitely want to focus on the simplicity aspect because it’s something that’s built into the culture even here at Twitter. Constraints inspire creativity.
I’m curious about writing in the age of online publishing. Because nobody cares about good writing online.
Creativity is a renewable resource. Challenge yourself every day. Be as creative as you like, as often as you want, because you can never run out.
We lacked something that is the key to a successful startup, and it was bigger than sound quality. It was emotional investment. If you don’t love what you’re building, if you’re not an avid user yourself, then you will most likely fail even if you’re doing everything else right.
If we probe what’s behind our assumptions, what we find isn’t knowledge or wisdom. It’s fear. We’re afraid that other people’s ideas will make us look less than. We’re afraid that if we make a change, a product won’t come in on time.
Our promise was to deliver value before profit,...
Trust your instincts, know what you want, and believe in your ability to achieve it. Rules and conventions are important for schools, businesses, and society in general, but you should never follow them blindly.