AI Summary
5 min readSpecial: DAOing a Twitter Board Seat
When Jack Dorsey stepped down as Twitter's CEO in late November 2021, handing the reins to CTO Parag Agarwal, the market's reaction was telling. The stock spiked 10% on the rumor, then closed down 2% on the news, and kept falling. The hosts of this special episode—one bullish, one skeptical—use the CEO change as a springboard to diagnose what has held Twitter back for a decade and to propose a radical fix: a DAO that buys a board seat to give the community direct influence over the product.
The Product-Market Fit Trap
The central framework the hosts borrow from Ben Thompson and Marc Andreessen is that Twitter hit product-market fit too early and too easily. The microblogging format for breaking news was so immediately right for its era that the company never developed the muscle of constant iteration. Unlike Snap, which had to grind through multiple pivots and keep innovating to survive, Twitter coasted on its original insight for years. The hosts argue this created a culture where the product barely changed—the app today looks and feels essentially the same as it did a decade ago.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction & Sponsor Pre-roll** - Hosts Greg and the co-host introduce a special episode on Twitter's CEO change and a potential Web3 angle.
- 2 (01:43) **Context: Jack Dorsey's Departure and Parag Agarwal's Appointment** - The hosts react to the news of Jack stepping down and Parag Agarwal, former CTO, becoming the new CEO.
- 3 (03:02) **The Activist Investor Pressure (Elliott Management)** - The co-host explains the backstory of Elliott Management pushing for Jack to step down in 2020.
- 4 (05:16) **Twitter's Core Revenue Problem: Direct Response Advertising** - Explanation of why Twitter's ad stack underperforms compared to Facebook and Snap.
- 5 (06:10) **Market Reaction to the CEO Change** - The stock spiked on the rumor of Jack stepping down but closed down 2% after Parag Agarwal was announced.
- 6 (07:27) **Surprise at the Choice: Product vs. Technical CEO** - The co-host expected Kayvon Beykpour (CPO) to be CEO, not the CTO.
- 7 (08:02) **The Bull Case: Twitter as the "Super App of the Knowledge Creator Economy"** - The co-host lays out the optimistic vision for Twitter's future.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
Jack Dorsey stepping down has created a pivotal moment in Twitter's history. Where do things go from here? Hosts Greg Isenberg (@gregisenberg) and Sahil Bloom (@sahilbloom) provide their takes on what can make Twitter take off. Part of the plan: they recommend giving the power to the people via a DAO.
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SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS
CAPCHASE
Today’s show is sponsored by Capchase.
Capchase is a new financing option for fast-growing startups. They are offering Where It Happens listeners .25% off their first draw, preferred onboarding, and more. Their main product Capchase Grow lets you tap into your future revenue today, meaning you can reinvest in your business faster. We love what they are offering to business owners.
To learn more go to capchase.com/room
MERCURY
https://mercury.com/partner/rwih
If you’re a founder, Mercury is the banking product you need.
Mercury offers FDIC-insured bank accounts, virtual & physical debit cards, international & domestic wires that are free to send, 3-click payment flows, and more. We personally use Mercury for our business banking with the podcast and Sahil is an investor.
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