Book Report: Hatching Twitter

(Have I mentioned lately that I don't speak for my employer? This would be a good time to mention that. I read this book about Twitter's history. It tells a fairly sad story. Sad enough such that I find myself prefixing this book report with disclaimers and disclosures. You might think I have special knowledge of the facts, but I don't. The book's story is from before my time.)

Twitter grew out of a company called Odeo. In the early years of these companies, there was a lot of CEO turnover. Before you read this book, you might be curious how so many CEOs came to be ousted. By the time you're done reading, you might wonder how these guys stood each other as long as they did; their personalities seem sure to clash. After reading the story, I kept looking backwards, trying to figure out where things went wrong. Maybe Ev shouldn't have invested in his friend/neighbor's startup. Which, allegedly, Ev knew he shouldn't do. Or maybe that's me trying to tack some kind of tragic-hero narrative flow on top of the ensuing mess.