Journal.
‘Maybe’
I don’t always find myself saying good things about TechCrunch, but Michael Arrington’s video interview with Twitter founder Evan Williams is unmissable.
The interview is ostensibly about Twitter’s acquisition of Summize. In the traditional business world, this sort of thing normally involves a cautiously worded press release; an awkward, lifeless photo call and press conference and some men in suits stifly shaking hands. Not here.
Instead it is made remarkable by the fabulous candour and openness with which Williams chats about Twitter’s past, present and future. He reveals just how much of Twitter’s future is up for grabs – not lacking direction so much as spoilt for choice. Summize happens in part down to Twitter’s ‘over-estimating’ of its own search functionality (there’s honesty for you), and in part down to another outsourcing deal with a major search partner seemingly not quite feeling right.
For some, this is uncomfortable territory – no pinned-down long term strategy, an environment in which a phone call with an old contact changes everything. But it makes me that anything is possible for Twitter. Williams and Twitter might just be reflecting what modern business increasingly feels like – open to new ideas, opportunistic, experimental. It’s thrilling stuff.
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