Header Ads

Twitter starts to hustle

Bloomberg

Hey all, it's Kurt. Twitter Inc. executives spent more than three hours on Thursday outlining a long-term business strategy—everything from subscription plans to hiring targets—at the company's first "Analyst Day" since 2014. The presentation included a number of ambitious goals that sent the stock soaring, including doubling revenue and adding more than 120 million new users over the next three years.

But the most important goal Twitter presented Thursday is also the most difficult to quantify. The company said it wants to "double development velocity" by the end of 2023, which means "doubling the number of features shipped per employee."

Translation: Twitter wants to move faster—and it has good reason to do so.

The social media company has long had a reputation for moving slowly on testing and launching features. One of the best examples comes from early 2016, when the company was prepared to roll out an update to allow longer tweets. Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey unexpectedly pulled the plug on the product while on the "Today Show," shocking the team that had been working on it. Twitter didn't launch expanded tweets for another 18 months.

I remember it being the perfect example of Twitter being too precious with its product, moving too slowly, and simply missing a chance to change something for the better.

Dorsey knows his company needs to shake its reputation for dithering, and he began Thursday's presentation by addressing it head on. "We agree we've been slow," Dorsey said. "If you compare us to our peers on the market, this is especially stark."

Now, the company is on the brink of a number of big opportunities, and making fast decisions is even more important. Twitter is considering a newsletter subscription service, a hot area in the media world as lots of talented journalists try working for themselves. It's also already testing a competitor to Clubhouse, called Spaces, which is still in a closed beta. I'm not convinced audio rooms are the future of social media, but Clubhouse is valued at $1 billion. Twitter is in a prime position to take the lead on audio if it can get its product right.

Twitter has blown a lot of interesting opportunities over the years. Vine could have become TikTok if it hadn't been mismanaged. Twitter was early to live video with Periscope, but let it falter—a move that feels extra disappointing given the rise of live video this past year. And the company had National Football League games, but didn't build impressive chat or live viewing products to complement them.

Despite those misses, Twitter once again finds itself well positioned to take advantage of prevailing media trends. The question will be: Can it move fast enough to do it? Kurt Wagner

If you read one thing

Fry's Electronics is closing. The beloved California big-box retailer was outmaneuvered by Amazon, in a story familiar to Circuit City, CompUSA and RadioShack. Fast Company explained the chain's salience to Silicon Valley culture. Need more nostalgia? Read Wired's take.

And here's what you need to know in global technology news

Coinbase is going public, and unlike many of its peers, the business is actually profitable.

Twitter gave the first outline of a potential subscription product. The company floated the prospect of allowing users to charge followers for access to special content, potentially helping deliver on a goal of doubling revenue in three years.

The changes keep coming at Electronic Arts. After the video game publisher canceled one much-anticipated game update called Anthem Next, it killed another: an original new franchise called Gaia. It also shifted development of the next Dragon Age in a bet on single-player games.

Twitch pulled ads run by Amazon promoting an anti-union campaign, Vice reported. The move reflects a break for the Amazon-owned video streaming website from its parent company.

 

Like Fully Charged? | Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters.

 

No comments