I am a fan of Twitter the product – I think it provides a unique niche for news and events in a time where more people are getting engaged in social networks. However, this week I finally threw in the towel and closed out my position just barely breaking even.
Why? I am reminded of a quote I heard from Jordan Ritter on Triangulation. To paraphrase, ‘the most important thing for an organization is a good team. A great team can be successful with an average product, but a bad team will screw up the next Facebook every time’.
That’s how I feel about Twitter – great product, but the current team is not making the moves to make it work. I had hoped when wunderkind Jack Dorsey returned as CEO, he would provide the leadership necessary to make the team move the product forward. After a year and a half, I am seeing few signs of improvements. And if you looked at the stock based compensation numbers for its employees, it looks closer like a pre-bubble bust company of the early 2000’s. Factor in that earlier in the year several companies looked into buying Twitter, and all walked away after due diligence.
Hopefully someone will buy out the company and build a great product and make product enhancements to better monetize the platform and make it easier for new users to get engaged with. I still think this platform has potential to be great, but I am on the sidelines until I see signs of a great team in place.