Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive • Hacker News Board

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#121

Post by etr71115 » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

ar7hur wrote: post #12

I still think it's impossible to run two companies that both require so much attention, given their stage. Yes Jobs had Apple and Pixar, and Musk has Tesla and SpaceX. But both Pixar and SpaceX don't really require day-to-day CEO attention, they follow long term plans (movies, rockets). That's really different from Square and Twitter, which are both, in their own ways, in a kind of trouble. I'd love to be proven wron…

Jobs didn't run Pixar. He was a principal investor and Chairman of the Board, negotiating a few milestones like the sale to Disney, but most of his focus was on NeXT and then Apple. Ed Catmull and John Lasseter ran Pixar's day-to-day ops.

Creativity, Inc. by Catmull covers all this. It paints a better portrait of Jobs than Isaacson's Jobs biography. Plus, you get to read about the history of computer graphics and Toy Story.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#122

Post by hoorayimhelping » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:38 PM UTC

derrekl wrote: post #108

toomuchtodo wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any reason that Musk couldn't colocate SpaceX and Tesla in Freemont instead of SpaceX being located in Hawthorne? What's the benefit of SpaceX being in the LA area?

Los Angeles has a very large aerospace industry and long history in it. Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and SpaceX all have a large presence in Los Angeles's South Bay. It's not as large as it was during the "cold war" but a lot of skilled employees still live in the area.

JPL as well.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#123

Post by demian » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

austenallred wrote: post #80

demian wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, he fits a role in the company's narrative, both for the inside and outside. He is perceived as twitter "creator/inventor" after all, so I can understand why the employees are thrilled.

I've actually heard that he's making long-needed changes on the product side of things since he's been back, so the employees I talk to at least believe that he will help in more than just "the narrative." Of course, those were people with a lot of stock in the company, so they're not impartial; I fear there are very few knowledgable, impartial sources in this one.

Good to know, then time will tell and we will see his impact on the product.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#124

Post by talmand » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:40 PM UTC

nkohari wrote: post #68

talmand wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean? I fully believe that a competent developer could sit down and make something like Twitter in a weekend. Especially since the concept and what to do with it is already on display for them to copy. Now, to create a Twitter clone in a weekend when there's no Twitter to go by? Nope.

You could create something that looks like Twitter, but you couldn't create Twitter. Ignoring the network effects and scale that Twitter has is ignoring its primary value.

That's my point.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#125

Post by talmand » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:41 PM UTC

davidcgl wrote: post #72

talmand wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean? I fully believe that a competent developer could sit down and make something like Twitter in a weekend. Especially since the concept and what to do with it is already on display for them to copy. Now, to create a Twitter clone in a weekend when there's no Twitter to go by? Nope.

If you boil down the entirety of Twitter into just a CRUD app that allows you to post 140 characters at a time, then yes, you can make that in a weekend. Well, how about recommended posts / people to follow (ML)? Sponsored posts with a buy button (3rd part integration)? Growth and metrics (data analytics)? A software product is never just about pixels on the screen; and trivializing the engineering effort behind it i…

I think you misunderstand my point. Your first sentence is similar to what I'm saying. Your second part is not what I'm saying.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#126

Post by talmand » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:42 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #99

talmand wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll give him the CEO, but I disagree with the founder status. He was an investor, not a founder.

My understanding was that he purchased Pixar from Lucas for $10mm when Lucas didn't think that there was going to be a very lucrative animation business. This was told to me by employees of ILM when I was building the letterman digital arts center.

Yes, those people founded what became Pixar. Jobs bought it from Lucas.

I'm going by the books I've read about Pixar written by employees or authors that interviewed employees.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#127

Post by talmand » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:43 PM UTC

sgustard wrote: post #100

talmand wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll give him the CEO, but I disagree with the founder status. He was an investor, not a founder.

Quoting http://www.pixar.com/about/Our-Story >Steve Jobs purchases the Computer Graphics Division from George Lucas and establishes an independent company to be christened "Pixar."

Yep, he "purchased" it. What became know as Pixar was indeed the people at the Computer Graphics Division at LucasFilm. They are the ones I call founder.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#128

Post by talmand » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:46 PM UTC

georgeecollins wrote: post #96

talmand wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll give him the CEO, but I disagree with the founder status. He was an investor, not a founder.

I think it is because Pixar wasn't originally an animation studio. In particular they didn't intend to produce movies themselves. When they became one, he was a founder.

No, they were a part of a company that was almost a studio in of itself. The people that started that division with Lucas, that was eventually purchased by Jobs, wanted to make movies from the beginning. It was their stated goal at the time and they repeat the claim today. It was Jobs that had other ideas for the company, people, and technology before Toy Story came to be.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#129

Post by ethanbond » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:46 PM UTC

killwhitey wrote: post #117

inthewoods wrote: post #113

I keep wondering if this is going to be like Marissa Mayer joining Yahoo - much fanfare, some movement, but at the end of the day she's been unable to significantly move the needle. I just wonder if Twitter fundamentally isn't as scalable an idea/product as Facebook et al. It's obviously Jack's job to make it that - but what if the basic form of Twitter just isn't as compelling, no matter how you change it or dress i…

Then his job is find something else for Twitter to make. Facebook has launched a lot of experimental apps like Paper, Rooms, Slingshot, Messenger. And they bought Instagram which is very successful. Under Costolo Twitter bought vine and periscope, but they haven't tried to experiment with new app ideas internally.

In what world is Paper, Rooms, or Slingshot even remotely successful?

And obviously the messaging service attached to an already massive social network would be compelling, that's not really an "experimental app" by any definition.

Re: Twitter Names Jack Dorsey Chief Executive

#130

Post by gkoberger » Mon, Oct 05, 2015, 5:47 PM UTC

CPLX wrote: post #17

fitzwatermellow wrote: post #9

Congrats, @jack Would love to see twtr become a platform for a myriad of third-party apps. Wouldn't it be great to place a market order by messaging @bats "buy $TWTR 10,000 30.00". Or order a limo with @uber "2 people in one hour to jfk airport"?

> Or order a limo with @uber "2 people in one hour to jfk airport"? Why would typing out a generic request to a several square mile area without any identifying information be better than a GPS enabled app with real time communications, mapping, and integrated payment? I see this kind of comment all the time (eg that ridiculous "magic" SMS startup) and always wonder how otherwise rational, linear thinkers develop thi…

While I think Twitter doing this is a bad idea (since Twitter stuff is public), Magic has been absolutely amazing for me. It frees up a ton of time for me. I've never used it for getting an Uber (that's what the Uber app is for), but I have used it for offloading a ton of complicated or menial tasks.