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.
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.
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.
None of those founders were actually successful with the other project. Steve Jobs bought then sold Pixar, and later sat on its board, owning a bunch of shares but not actually being involved operationally. Peter Thiel is not successful because of FF or CC, he's successful because of Facebook and Paypal (both at different times). With Elon Musk, you may have a case but I haven't read enough details to know.
The main point the gp is making:
Peter Thiel is known for: Paypal and after that Facebook
Elon Musk is known for: Paypal and after that Tesla
Clarification: He was wealthy but illiquid before the Tesla IPO. He did not realize how ungodly expensive his divorce would be - he had to pay for both sides since he was wealthier and his ex was happy to use his money to pay for legal time to maximize her take.
does Steve Jobs spends as much time/effort in Apple as in Pixar? Does Steve tell Pixar animators a thousand "no" till the animation is done "right"? I would guess no.
Steve worked on-site at Pixar one day a week (Friday) until the Disney acquisition. Day-to-day management went through the executive team, primarily Ed Catmull for technical and operations, and John Lasseter for creative direction.
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.
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)
Feel free to make your original point but I think most people would agree bible passages (or those from the Qur'an, Torah, book of Dianetics, etc) don't have a place on HN.
This is absurd. I'm almost completely atheist but I still recognize a useful passage when I see one. The bible is a respected piece of literature. Judge the words based on their merit not on their source.
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?
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).
Who knows what motivates a person, but strictly from an opportunity perspective, Twitter is a more certain outcome than Square. If NFC on the phone takes off, then Square technology may soon become antiquated.
This move certainly doesn't bode well for Square, though.
It's important to note that most of what Square brings to the table is not hardware. It acquires merchant transactions and manages payment risk. Square can simply support other hardware technology, but their focus is on the merchant side.
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.)
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.
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.
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.