Today Om Malik posted a piece outlining the future of Twitter as very different from where Twitter is today. As I read it I thought, yes that is the future, and about a dozen other things. We should do them all. #
Here's my plan for Twitter. Become an investment banker and distributor. It's the same advice I have for every tech company that achieves the size and seniority that Twitter has achieved. #
Their strength is operating servers and raising money. They have access to an infinite supply of both. They also have a unique platform, with virtually universal adoption. Their service is so many places, that's where the distribution comes into it.#
Commit to the API as a developer ecosystem, and invest in developers with promising apps. Buy them when that would be in the interest of both. That's how you grow from where Twitter was. #
Also for crying out loud, broaden the pipe to allow text objects greater than 280 chars. Please.#
It was the advice I came up with for Microsoft when we were studying them in the 90s and they were helbent on taking over the nascent web. With hindsight it was good advice. #
It was also my advice for pre-1997 Apple. I even wrote a piece where I dreamed I was CEO of Apple, and outlined how I would reorganize Apple's relationship with devs. That plan would be perfect for Twitter in 2021. Imagine Jack Dorsey as CEO of a new Twitter that does deals with devs. #
Twitter is too big a boat to turn. But it can be a safe harbor for thousands of startups with ideas for what to do with the basic ingredients of Twitter. #
Last update: Tuesday December 8, 2020; 7:55 AM EST.
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