Subscribe
Another Twitter founder doesn’t work there anymore. First, it was Jack Dorsey, the guy who came up with the idea, that jumped ship when he realized that it wasn’t going to be smooth sailing. Now it is Evan Williams, the guy who drew investors in, that has jumped shipped.
In September 2010, Ev Williams gave up the CEO title to take a job focusing on product. In a blog post, Williams wrote, “I am most satisfied while pushing product direction. Building things is my passion, and I’ve never been more excited or optimistic about what we have to build. This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today, I’ll be completely focused on product strategy.”
In late October, The New York Times reported that: “Mr. Williams, who remains on the company’s board, now focuses on product strategy. He made the decision after conceiving and spending months working on the recent redesign of the Twitter website.”
It turns out this narrative is false.
The truth is, right now, a few months after Williams wrote a blog post saying he would be “completely focused on product strategy,” he is in fact hardly working for Twitter at all.
Sources told BusinessInsider that: Williams isn’t working on product and hardly ever shows up at Twitter’s office. He remains involved in the company at the board level, but that’s about it. He sometimes chips in with PR, serving as a public face of the company.
A source said: “He’s gone, buddy.“
Channels: Twitter
Share company news, product news, sector news, industry news and more... 
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by embarco, Atanu Basu. Atanu Basu said: Twitter Founder Evan Williams Doesn’t Work There Anymore http://lnkd.in/iZ7CQy [...]
Pingback by Tweets that mention Twitter Founder Evan Williams Doesn’t Work There Anymore -- Topsy.com — February 4, 2011 @ 12:15 PM
This article makes some ridiculous assertions. Jack Dorsey and Ev Williams don’t need to be involved on a daily basis. They’re both still on Twitter’s board. Both have said before that they simply prefer to work in smaller companies. As Danny Sullivan’s highly respected site Search Engine pointed out here (http://searchengineland.com/report-twitter-co-founder-ev-williams-no-longer-works-there-63415): “it wouldn’t be at all unusual, especially at a time when a company is growing so rapidly — from a scrappy start-up to a global corporation.”
And, are you guys serious writing this with the tone that Twitter has “failed to take off”? That has got to qualify for journalistic malpractice. Are you kidding? Twitter has become more than just a globally successful company, it is a platform for other companies to reach scale…for other companies to build upon…
And, they are certainly making money. We can’t know if they’re profitable, but their ad system is bringing in revenue for sure. Twitter will most likely go public within the next year or two and follow in the steps of the near-certain gigantic IPO successes of Facebook, Groupon, and recently Demand Media.
You wrote “A small group of users really use the service and make a ton of noise about it.” Right. Small. Uh-huh. Let’s do the math. Twitter has 200M users last I checked. Even if the “80% of those users are inactive” is accurate, that’s still FORTY MILLION ACTIVE USERS. LinkedIn has 60M users overall and has already filed to go public.
Not sure how you personally measure the success of a company, how you define “small group of users”, or at what point you will say a company has “officially taken off”, but seriously….my guess is that your logic is close to asinine. With or without Ev Williams, the future of communication, media distribution, and more is largely in the hands of Twitter.
Whether or not WebGuild ever chooses to open its eyes to this is irrelevant. I believe Twitter and Facebook’s impact on our societies worldwide is only beginning. Better check your sources, editing, logic, and philosophy before you find yourself on the wrong side of history.
- John X
Comment by John Exley — February 4, 2011 @ 2:00 PM
This is one of the most ridiculous articles I've read in a long time. The assertions you make about Twitter's success are simply illogical.
First of all, if Jack Dorsey and Ev Williams are involved in the company on a daily basis that does not necessarily guarantee its growth and further success; and if they are not, it also does Not promise the company's demise. The fact is, both are still active on Twitter's board.
Dick Costelo (current CEO) is not a rookie. He sold Feedburner to Google. He's respected, connected, experienced, and not someone I'd bet against….especially as the leader of the culturally-transformative company Twitter.
As Danny Sullivan's site Search Engine Land pointed out a couple days ago (here: http://searchengineland.com/report-twitter-co-fou... the fact that a company's founders take a lesser role/leave "wouldn’t be at all unusual, especially at a time when a company is growing so rapidly — from a scrappy start-up to a global corporation" – which Twitter is doing right now. Ev just prefers to work/start/lead smaller companies. He gets uncomfortable with larger companies…and For Your Information, Twitter is a growing company….not failing/going backwards as your tone in this article implies.
And here's where I really take issue with your preposterous, near journalistic malpractice: how exactly do you guys measure success, how do you personally define when a company has "taken off", and what do you decree as a "small group of users"? Seriously. Let's take a look at the numbers…something you guys certainly don't seem to have done.
The company is making a ton of revenue. Millions, easily. Their ad platform is solid. We don't know if they're profitable, but they aren't just sitting around trying to 'manipulate people around hype' as you guys suggest. Pretty sure they've taken off by the way. They're not just an internationally recognized company that has transformed the way societies all over the world communicate and share/distribute media, they have become a platform for other companies to utilize to reach scale and they have become a platform for other companies to build their entire business around/on top of (i.e. leveraging their API). So, they have become an enormous job-creation engine for economies everywhere. Pretty sure that's enough for me to (without argument) say they've "taken off".
Now, a "small group of active users" – are you guys literally on drugs, living under a rock, or are your standards for "large group of active users" basically 'get to Facebook's level, or fail'? They have 200 million users last I checked, and even if the "80% of users are not active" numbers are accurate, that's still FORTY MILLION ACTIVE USERS. For a comparison, LinkedIn has 60 million users (overall; who knows how many are active) and they already filed to go public.
My 2 cents, in closing? We are only seeing the beginning of Twitter and Facebook's true global impact…I think they have both only begun to transform communication and societies around the world. You guys better start checking the numbers closer and re-examine your logical reasoning/philosophy before you end up on the wrong side of history.
Don't tell us you weren't warned.
Rant over.
John X
Comment by @JohnExley — February 4, 2011 @ 2:25 PM
i prefer it flutter miscarry Evan Williams Doesn’t Work in that place Anymore at present im your rss reader
Comment by Rapid Gigabitz — February 4, 2011 @ 11:24 PM
I was “Goggle-ing” and came across your blog site. I had already add your RSS feed to my MSN information reader after reading some of your earlier posts. I’m looking forward to more posts from you.
Comment by Margene Matsuo — February 11, 2011 @ 6:47 AM
Hey, I think your your blog is great. I found it on Yahoo. I’m certain I’ll come back soon.
Comment by Ethel Eimer — February 11, 2011 @ 2:28 PM
I’d be inclined to set with you one this subject. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to speak my mind!
Comment by Lydia Montemayor — February 13, 2011 @ 8:44 PM
[...] it strange that one of the founders is off building a new company and the other two founders are hardly seen at the office. Maybe this is the reason why Twitter can’t find their mojo. Perhaps the [...]
Pingback by I know how Twitter can make Billions – seriously | Andrew Hillman 140 Ideas. Andrew Hillman — March 30, 2011 @ 5:19 PM
[...] had a big loss and a big win in January when founder Evan Williams flew the coop. In hindsight, maybe I should have saw it coming. He stepped down as CEO a while back but I [...]
Pingback by Technology Exodus – Who’s quiting, who’s moving and who’s losing? « J'Lu: Social Media Diva in Training — April 26, 2011 @ 1:44 PM