Twitter Founder Reveals The Bid That Could Have Changed The Whole Face Of Social Media
Facebook almost owned everything!
Twitter founder Biz Stone has sensationally revealed how he turned down a $500m offer from Facebook to buy the company in the early days, a move that could have changed the face of social media forever. It proved to be a wise decision as he has watched Twitter’s value soar to billions.
Source: matchboxmobile.com
He recently revealed that both he and co-founder Evan Williams travelled to a meeting with Facebook king-pin Mark Zuckerberg several years ago. Neither of the Twitter founders wanted to sell the company, so they agreed to come up with a number “so big”, that “no-one would ever say yes to it.”
Having gone in with this plan of action, they came up with a figure of $500m, and “laughed so hard at that.” Despite the laughter and the fact that Mr Zuckerberg saying it was a “big number”, an offer was placed at the table later that day.
There was an element of surprise and the pair thought carefully about the decision, but in the end they turned it down, saying they felt like they were “just getting started” with the business. He then added that he and the Facebook founder did not have compatible personalities: “I like him, and I respect him, it’s just that we didn’t click.” He added: “I’m a jokey guy and he’s a very serious guy so every joke I made - it was a tough crowd.”
He was also recently questioned on the use of Twitter by extremists in Iraq and beyond, but he maintained that the social networking tool was used more for good rather than evil: “When you create a large-scale platform where hundreds of millions of people have freedom of expression, you have to take the good with the bad.”
“If you're going to tout the fact you're encouraging free speech then you can’t curate it. As soon as you do that you lose the trust.”
Mr Stone then reflected on his time at the company, and stated that the growth of Twitter into a $23bn company feels “strange.” On the subject, he said: “I’ve come to terms with it but I wouldn't call it surprised - it feels strange in a good way to go to the shopping mall and see the little bird I drew.”
It was a bold decision by Mr Stone and his co-founder, as at the time it would have been a massive temptation to take such a huge offer, but passion for the business took over, and it turned out to be a fantastic decision. Twitter is now a multi-billion dollar company, and it seems it is in the right hands.
Finally, Biz Stone highlighted how fast the growth has been by saying: “It doesn't seem that long ago that we were just a rag tag group of guys.”
There was an element of surprise and the pair thought carefully about the decision, but in the end they turned it down, saying they felt like they were “just getting started” with the business. He then added that he and the Facebook founder did not have compatible personalities: “I like him, and I respect him, it’s just that we didn’t click.” He added: “I’m a jokey guy and he’s a very serious guy so every joke I made - it was a tough crowd.”
He was also recently questioned on the use of Twitter by extremists in Iraq and beyond, but he maintained that the social networking tool was used more for good rather than evil: “When you create a large-scale platform where hundreds of millions of people have freedom of expression, you have to take the good with the bad.”
“If you're going to tout the fact you're encouraging free speech then you can’t curate it. As soon as you do that you lose the trust.”
Source: linkedin.com
Mr Stone then reflected on his time at the company, and stated that the growth of Twitter into a $23bn company feels “strange.” On the subject, he said: “I’ve come to terms with it but I wouldn't call it surprised - it feels strange in a good way to go to the shopping mall and see the little bird I drew.”
It was a bold decision by Mr Stone and his co-founder, as at the time it would have been a massive temptation to take such a huge offer, but passion for the business took over, and it turned out to be a fantastic decision. Twitter is now a multi-billion dollar company, and it seems it is in the right hands.
Finally, Biz Stone highlighted how fast the growth has been by saying: “It doesn't seem that long ago that we were just a rag tag group of guys.”
Alex is an English Literature and Sociology undergraduate whose love for written word has led him to write about some obscure topics in his time. Currently a content writer at Social Media Frontiers, be sure to follow him @AlexSatSMF.
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Twitter Founder Reveals The Bid That Could Have Changed The Whole Face Of Social Media
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014
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