8 Lessons Startups Can Learn From Twitter's Chaotic Creation Story

Most startups will never see anything close to the amount of money Twitter plans on raising during its IPO this week (a reported $1.6 billion) and in fact, three out of four tech businesses fail. Entrepreneurs in training looking to create a successful company, then, might want to know what turned the 140–character sharing service into a viable business worth billions. For answers to that elusive question, Fast Company spoke with Nick Bilton, New York Times columnist and the author of the forthcoming book Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal. Nick BiltonImage via Twitter Bilton tells the tale of Twitter's founding, which he likens to a murder mystery. Nobody dies, he assures. But, as the title of the book indicates, the company had a tumultuous beginning. The four founders of Odeo, which turned into Twitter, started as friends. "As Twitter grew, the four founders fought bitterly for money, influence, publicity, and control over a company that grows larger and more powerful by the day," explains the book's Amazon page. Out of those ashes, however, emerged a service so powerful it can influence stock markets and revolutions alike. So how did the soon–to–be Twitter billionaires turn chaos into gold? Here are 8 tips drawn from a conversation with Bilton: Lesson 1: Mythical founding stories are just that: myths. "Founding a startup is actually very difficult–– a lot more difficult than I think we sometimes realize when we cover these... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2013-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]

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People Magazine’s Newest Engagement Play Is Texting Readers Directly

You up? It's People. Starting Sunday, People magazine says it will be offering free, exclusive Oscars red carpet and backstage content to users who text 212-479-1704 and sign up by providing their name and phone number. The project is part of a partnership with Community, a messaging platform... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2020-02-04 19:22:48 UTC ]
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How the real-time data gold rush creates steep learning curves for developers [Q&A]

By 2025, industry analyst firm IDC predicts that 30 percent of all data will be real-time. The avalanche of streaming data frameworks, libraries and processing engines has created a massive learning curve for developers. We spoke with Craig Blitz, product director of cloud native application... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2019-11-27 10:04:35 UTC ]
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The pioneering women who fought to get in, and fit in, at Yale

Anne Gardiner Perkins tells the story of the school’s early days as a coed campus. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-11-22 01:56:07 UTC ]
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Nestlé Is Doubling Down on Ad Tech

Nestl?, the consumer-packaged-goods parent of such brands as Gerber, Poland Spring and Haagen-Dazs, recently unveiled its Global Digital Media Center of Competencies (DCoC), which brings together all of its agencies to deliver greater transparency in its media investments. It makes sense,... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2019-11-13 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Writing the Book on the Big Book: Spotlight on William H. Schaberg

A new history about the writing and publication of the Big Book shines a light on the work of Bill W. and the early days of Alcoholics Anonymous. (Sponsored) Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-14 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Grant Wacker Traces Billy Graham’s Life from Farmboy to Evangelical Royalty

In ‘One Soul at a Time,’ religion historian Wacker illuminates the life of Billy Graham, tracing the transition from his early days of hellfire preaching to his inclusive, enticing vision of Christ. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Novels Set in Toronto

In the popular imagination, the idea of Canadian literature is overwhelmingly dominated by imposing landscapes: the vast emptiness of the prairies, a cruel wilderness that tests the limits of human survival. It makes sense that such settings would loom large––many of the country’s most... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2019-08-26 11:00:08 UTC ]
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How Google is rewriting the rules of ad auctions

Google is moving to a simpler online advertising model called “unified auctions,” but its adoption will be anything but simple for the publishers who rely on the internet giant’s technology to manage their ad inventory. In the coming months, Google is aiming to level the playing field for... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-28 07:00:00 UTC ]
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'I wanted the Waterstone’s stores to be the most civilised and welcoming places in the world'

In an extract from his memoir, Waterstones founder Tim Waterstone describes the early days of the chain's creation.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-02-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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He's CEO, bitch: Young Zuckerberg and the early days of Facebook revealed

"Everyone who has seen 'The Social Network' knows the story of Facebook's founding," Adam Fisher writes at the start of "Sex, Beer, and Coding: Inside Facebook's Wild Early Days" in Wired. The article sets up an excerpt from "Valley of Genius: The Uncensored History of Silicon Valley," Fisher's... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Zine scene thriving at Hamilton Zinefest

If you need some weird ideas in your life, the Hamilton Zinefest is a good place to start. The annual gathering of creatives and their endeavours took place on Saturday in the Meteor Theatre. It was a hustling, bustling marketplace of artists, writers, poets, collectors and those with decidedly... Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2018-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple’s App of the Year Makes Sense If You've Been Paying Attention to the News

For a picture of what life was like in 2017, look no further than the apps, movies, books, and music that topped the App Store and iTunes charts. This week, Apple revealed the most popular titles that iOS users downloaded over the course of the year. In terms of media, the top choices weren’t... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2017-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 5 Books On Bill Gates’s Summer Reading List–From Jimmy Carter To Trevor Noah

If you are worried your beach reads might be a little too easy this summer, Gates has some more heady suggestions for you. As one of the world’s top philanthropists, perhaps it makes sense that Bill Gates is treating beach reading like an intellectual cause: Each year, he offers up his list of... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-05-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Inside The “Mythical” Minds And Digital Empire Of YouTube Pioneers Rhett & Link

For as long as Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal have been creating YouTube videos and for all the success they’ve had doing it, they still feel like they’re navigating uncharted territory. Since joining YouTube in 2006, Rhett and Link, whose friendship dates back to first grade in North Carolina,... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Snapchat Receives Poor Grades From Marketers

It might be early days, but marketers are seeing little return when advertising on Snapchat. They also seem more interested in spending ad dollars on the company's newfound rival: Instagram.That's according to a series of studies published by RBC Capital Markets in partnership with Ad Age, where... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2017-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gawker founder Nick Denton believes the 'good internet will rise up again'

“Facebook makes me despise many of my friends and Twitter makes me hate the rest of the world,” Gawker founder Nick Denton said.The publishing pioneer, who connected with fellow bloggers at South by Southwest in the early days of web publishing, returned to the festival Sunday to reflect on the... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2017-03-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Snapchat Is Now Pitching Brands on Sequential Video Ads

Snapchat is encouraging brands to run longer video by buying bigger packages of ads. According to sources, Snap has started pitching brands on a new type of ad package called sequenced messaging, a type of sequential advertising, in recent weeks. The new ad pricing bundles video ads together... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2017-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Three Email Metrics That Publishers Should Track

[Sponsored] Want to be an email expert? There’s some analytics that you should be paying attention to. The post Three Email Metrics That Publishers Should Track appeared first on Folio:. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2016-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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