Jack Dorsey Takes Over Product Again at Twitter as Executive Chairman

[davidu]

This is all part of a plan that was laid down some time ago.

Jack is a product guy. Tremendously good (evidence being he created both Twitter and Square). Jack is not an operator of a quickly scaling company, or at least, that's what Ev has said on the record more than once.

Jack recognizes his strengths and weaknesses. At Twitter his weaknesses were "recognized" for him and he was pushed out as CEO. It was painful and left some damaged bridges. He's been maturing and growing since then and looking back, probably agrees it was the right move even if it was handled the wrong way.

Then he founded Square. He got the product launched and hired Keith Rabois, a well-known operator. A hardcore, real operator and business guy.

Jack will run product at both companies. Keith will run day to day operations at Square, probably even as CEO. DickC will continue to run day to day operations at Twitter. Jack will play to his strengths and let someone else keep the cash balances in check.

With Twitter, Jack was pushed out. With Square, he probably couldn't have hired Keith if there wasn't a plan or timeline in place for Keith to become CEO.

* This is all my speculation.

[ganjianwei]

I doubt Keith Rabois joined because he felt he could become CEO. I think you're underestimating the draw of getting to work with someone as good as Jack Dorsey and on a product as exciting (to Keith) as Square.

[PakG1]

This is very strange, because I thought Ev stepped aside as CEO to focus on product.

[samtp]

How can he expect any loyalty or dedication from his employees after doing this? If I was working for square, I'd be pissed that the leader of the company just cut a significant amount of time from what you're working on everyday.

[staunch]

Everyone initially believes they can "focus" on two big things at the same time. No one can. He's about to learn this lesson the hard way.

[pclark]

like Steve Jobs with Apple and Pixar?

like Elon Musk with Tesla and SpaceX?

like Peter Thiel with Founders Fund and Clarium Capital?

[loso]

Charles Ghosn is the CEO at both Nissan and Renault

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Ghosn

[jpk]

Whether or not you consider the source credible, there's wisdom in the saying, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24a)

[rdouble]

Exec dudes in silicon valley are on everyone else's executive boards all the time.

[citricsquid]

Any thoughts on why he'd choose to do this when he is focusing on Square? Could it be that he disagrees with what's happening with Twitter and wants to steer it in the direction he wants it to go?

[jgilliam]

My guess is that he just really loves the product, and now that Ev and Biz are AWOL, he can actually do what he wants with it.

It's also a great PR response to the #dickbar.

[Gibbon]

I think he just loves the product. Based on some of his recent interviews, Twitter is something he's been thinking about a long time and is based on things he's worked on his whole life (dispatch, maps, cities, networks etc.)

[radicaldreamer]

Maybe because Twitter is currently orders of magnitude bigger than Square and he thinks he can still contribute to it and make a difference.

[MatthewPhillips]

Nothing against Jack, but this much management chair swapping is not good for a company. Tells me there is a lot of internal struggle going on. Perhaps the shareholders are pressing for monetization, and Ev pushed back on that (or tried and failed) and now Jack is coming in to give it a try.

[dotBen]

The management chair swapping occurred when Ev pushed Jack out, and then later realized he was burned out and faded out as Dick stepped in.

Having Jack back involved in the company - assuming he is fully committed - is perhaps the best thing that can happen to Twitter right now. New ideas, stability and founder support.

I think it's great news for everyone, including us users.

[bpeters]

Hopefully he can bring a working monetization model with him.

[horatiumocian]

I think Jack will concentrate on the product, the monetization part will be left to Dick Costolo.

[dr_]

To paraphrase from LL Cool J: Dont call it a comeback, he's been there before!

[krsgoss]

Rocking his peers. Putting suckers in fear.

[jonursenbach]

Can't help but wonder how Square's investors feel about this.

[akronim]

It's not all bad, Square just got in the news again as a result.