Hatching Twitter

Hatching Twitter details the story and human drama behind the creation and meteoric rise of Twitter, the social media platform that’s changed how we communicate over the past ten years.

Wait, didn’t I just say the opposite? Yes, and this is the crux of the matter: both of these statements are true. You’d think that it’s amazing that Twitter has gotten so big despite all of these friendship quarrels. But it’s not despite that they all were friends.

It’s because of it.

Had Twitter been invented by one guy who then would’ve just hired strangers to build it, it might’ve been a bigger financial success a lot sooner. But if what you’re building is important enough, the idea will outlive any human failure. It will make it into the world regardless, and once it’s gotten past that initial stage its history will continue to be written – with or without you.

The only way for Twitter to take its first breath (and make its first tweet) though, was for these four people to work together. Ev had the money and the experience, Jack the idea, Biz the calm resolve needed to get it out the door and Noah the kind of crazy passion that gave it its name (he looked through tons of dictionary to find “twitter – give a call consisting of repeated light tremulous sounds – the sound certain birds make”).

Therefore, you should always hire your friends, because it’s a good indicator that what you’re building is so important that it’s impossible for you to do it alone or with strangers. Great ideas will always entail great risk and that includes the risk of losing your best friend.

When Dick Costolo set Twitter straight for revenue growth, taking it to the stock market, and turning it into a “proper” company, that included a move to a bigger, more professional office. One of the souvenirs he sadly left behind (on purpose) was a big sign that read “Let’s make better mistakes tomorrow.” It had hung upside down inside Twitter’s office and had been one of Ev’s favorites. Twitter’s worldly success did grow significantly under Dick’s lead, but right now, this kind of commitment to creativity is exactly what Twitter is missing (let’s hope Jack brings it back). Ironing out all of your mistakes is impossible. Intolerance of mistakes is a futile effort that’ll only get you frustrated. Humans will always make mistakes. You don’t have to make them on purpose, but promising to make better mistakes tomorrow is a commitment to improvement over perfection. Acknowledge mistakes as part of the deal, but also never stop making progress. Sounds like the attitude of four friends building a company. We…