We can break news really fast. When an earthquake happens, there are people Twittering about it.
Biz StoneWe realized we weren't really using Odeo, we weren't investing our own time creating podcasts. We were building a tool that was a great idea for some other people. That's a dangerous way to go because if you don't actually use it yourself and love it, then you aren't going to be as fully invested in it from the start. That's what leads you to doing side projects.
Biz StoneThe determination that led me to create a new sports team taught me an important lesson: opportunity is manufactured.
Biz StoneI started as an artist and I had a side job moving some heavy boxes for a publishing company. They had just gotten a Mac for their art department, the department that creates the book covers. I was kind of showing the art director a thing or two about how to use a Mac. And one day everyone went out to lunch and I jumped on the computer and designed a book jacket and slipped it in the pile to go to the review board in New York. They picked my jacket and when the art director got back to Boston, he wanted to know who designed it and I said, "Me." He was like, "The box guy?"
Biz StoneWe 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.
Biz StoneI've probably overused this analogy of a flock of birds moving around an object in flight, but, in reality, it's so simple, real time communication of individuals that allow for this super organism type of organism to happen.
Biz StoneYou 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.
Biz StoneWhen 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.
Biz StoneSuccess isn´t guaranteed, but failure is certain if you aren´t truly emotionally invested in your work.
Biz StoneLesson number one: opportunity can be manufactured. Yes, you can wait around for the right set of circumstances to fall into place and then leap into action but you can also create those set of circumstances on your own. In so doing, you manufacture your own opportunities. This has helped me immeasurably.
Biz StoneI got an idea: people like news why don't we write the news down on a piece of paper, and we'll gas them up and drive them to everyone's house. I mean, if you were going to say that now, it doesn't sound like a great idea, because there are other ways you can distribute the news.
Biz StoneWhen a plane lands in the Hudson and there's a Twitter user on the ferry taking a picture of it, Boom. That's it. The water is still splashing. Here's the photo of the thing.
Biz StoneTwitter provides a great amount of timely information, but we still need those people to fill out the rest of the story and the context.
Biz StoneI 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.
Biz StoneEven though running is physically straining, it's mentally refreshing. Especially when you feel like you've accomplished something.
Biz StoneThe two things I use the most are the MacBook Air and my iPhone. Those are my two most-used gadgets that are dented, scratched and smashed.
Biz StoneWhen you think of a social network, you have these two-way interactions: "Are you my friend? Yes? No? Yes?" Like LinkedIn, it's business oriented, but it's all about establishing connections. You connect to me through my other connections, and that sort of thing, and you sort of define who your friends are. Twitter doesn't have that.
Biz StoneWhen I studied graphic design, I learned a valuable lesson: There's no perfect answer to the puzzle, and creativity is a renewable resource.
Biz StoneThe reason I really started running was for meditative purposes. I would pick some problem to have in my head while running.
Biz StoneAt Twitter, mobile is in our DNA ... For us, it's all about mobile, and it always has been.
Biz StoneYou have to have an emotional investment in what you're doing. If you don't love what you're doing, failure is pretty much guaranteed.
Biz StoneI 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.
Biz StoneCreativity is an infinitely renewable resource - you are not going to run out of it - so don't be afraid to use it.
Biz StoneIf people are passionate about your product, whether it's because they're hating or loving it, those are both good scenarios.
Biz StoneI started designing book jackets, which was great because I was good at it. And then from there I decided to become a freelance graphic designer and I needed to expand beyond book jackets, so I taught myself web design, and then in 1999 some friends of mine decided to start a company called Xanga.com, which was a very early kind of social network slash blogging community.
Biz StoneI never even graduated college. I never finished learning, as it were, and I have a psychological need to be in a learning environment at all times.
Biz StoneThere are a lot of sources of information out there, so why don't you curate for yourself a list, like a real timeline of information, like the New York Times, or JetBlue, or your friends, or this comedian, or this guy who pretends to be a cat, or whatever it is, whatever entertains you, whatever you find useful.
Biz Stone