
Jack Dorsey Takes Over Product Again at Twitter as Executive Chairman - Jsarokin
http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/28/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.

~~~
davidu
What kind of timeline would you like to lay down a bet? 12 months?

------
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?

~~~
rudiger
Clarium Capital has been performing terribly for years.

However, I agree with your general point (that it is possible for one person
to focus on two large projects).

~~~
Herwig
Still, Executive Chairman and CEO are two rather "big" titles. If he can
juggle both and be successful I will be impressed. We will never really know
how much effort he puts into each role.

------
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.

~~~
brown9-2
Is it a great PR response? It seems to me that a move like this helps solidify
the #dickbar as a failure, and shows the company acknowledges it needs to fix
the direction (which they have not been willing to state thus far).

~~~
albedoa
I think the acknowledgment is what he meant by a great response.

------
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.

~~~
brown9-2
Can the two really be separated like this?

~~~
pclark
Yes

~~~
achompas
Are there any historical examples of it working?

------
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.

