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Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

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Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#251

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

johnboiles wrote: post #217

This is mind boggling to me. Kayvon is one of the best product leaders / visionaries I know. It was confusing to me in Dec that he wasn't Jack's successor. Kayvon was a huge driving force behind all the interesting product efforts of the last few years: Spaces, Fleets, topics, etc. Twitter went from not iterating on product (remember when Twitter's only change in several years was to change the star to a heart?) to s…

Twitter copied all of those features from other apps. Spaces = Clubhouse, Fleets (which was also cancelled last year) = Snapchat. At best, Kayvon was good a being reactionary to competition. Not that great of a track record.

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#252

Post by [deleted] »

Traster wrote: post #84

So there's two options right - the first is that Parag is for some reason making big strategic decisions about the direction of the company despite the fact that we all know he'll be gone if the deal closes. Or he's making big strategic changes at the behest of the acquirers before the deal closes. Neither of these things seem particularly kosher moves to make. The question is how to figure out which one it is. It wo…

[deleted]

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#254

Post by morelisp »

ibejoeb wrote: post #228
Traster wrote: post #84

So there's two options right - the first is that Parag is for some reason making big strategic decisions about the direction of the company despite the fact that we all know he'll be gone if the deal closes. Or he's making big strategic changes at the behest of the acquirers before the deal closes. Neither of these things seem particularly kosher moves to make. The question is how to figure out which one it is. It wo…

So many possibilities. Top people with favorable clauses might be finagling their own golden parachutes.

Also my first thought - you'll probably get a better severance from your long-time coworker than the new guy who came in with the stated belief you've done everything wrong.

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#255

Post by isbjorn16 »

babypuncher wrote: post #207
robonerd wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being so proud you lose your sanity? That's quite odd. It's an insane amount of hyperbole.

Seems like a pretty typical use of the word "insane" in the US.

it's kind of insane to me that this is seen as insane, if I'm honest

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#256

Post by donohoe »

Traster wrote: post #84

So there's two options right - the first is that Parag is for some reason making big strategic decisions about the direction of the company despite the fact that we all know he'll be gone if the deal closes. Or he's making big strategic changes at the behest of the acquirers before the deal closes. Neither of these things seem particularly kosher moves to make. The question is how to figure out which one it is. It wo…

He is on paternity leave so unclear how much any of these options hold-up.

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#257

Post by ibejoeb »

lvl102 wrote: post #170

Not sure what he is proud of? Twitter did NOTHING for a decade. That’s why they’re being acquired. Zuckerberg was right about his “clown car” comment.

> Twitter is one of the most important, unique and impactful products in the world.

As long as there are no follow-up questions...

SV hubris is its own thing.

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#258

Post by jmyeet »

The two execs fired were:

- Kayvon Beykpour, Head of Consumer Product (3 years, 11 months) [1]; and

- Bruce Falck, Revenue Product Lead (5 years at Twitter, 3 years and 11 months in this position) [2]

Kinda weird that both people were just shy of serving 4 years in their current roles. When I see moves like this my immediate thought is always, it's to save or make money. For example, there could be an options pool in the event of a change of control. Well, you've just fired a couple of people right before a huge vest (probably; I have no concrete information) and increased your share of that options pool.

It just reminds me of Skype firing executives at the Microsoft buyout to avoid payouts [3].

Otherwise making these moves before an acquisition has closed doesn't make a lot of sense. My money is on this having everything to do with money.

EDIT: Updated comment as the link was updated from the original Twitter thread by Kayvon Beykpour about his firing.

[1]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayvon-beykpour-2b264b4?original...

[2]: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucefalck?original_referer=http...

[3]: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/skype-fires-executives....

Re: Twitter CEO fires two top executives, freezes hiring

#260

Post by ManBlanket »

Traster wrote: post #84

So there's two options right - the first is that Parag is for some reason making big strategic decisions about the direction of the company despite the fact that we all know he'll be gone if the deal closes. Or he's making big strategic changes at the behest of the acquirers before the deal closes. Neither of these things seem particularly kosher moves to make. The question is how to figure out which one it is. It wo…

What about the possibility guy was going to be asked to leave regardless of recent events, but the executive team decided the least they could do after he put in good time is allow him to collect some PTO on parental leave before handing him the official pink slip? I don't know what Twitter's benefits are but I imagine they have an, "unlimited leave" policy. Could be they've disagreed for a while and an argument came to an affront similar to, "Look man, I'm going to take leave to spend time with my new child, then we'll decide if it's the right move for me to return." Frankly this is a pretty boring conspiracy regardless, people leave jobs all the time. All I have to say is I hope dude enjoys a nice Summer with his family without worrying about this dumb product that for the most part narcissists use to trick themselves into thinking anybody gives a shit about what they have to say.
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