Month: November 2013

I started using Twitter before I met the founders. It was more curiosity than anything else. 

Rather immediately I was taken by this combination of simplicity, utility and fun. And it worked via sms which meant it would go with me everywhere. 

It was far more compelling than I could possibly have imagined. 

Shortly after that, I reached out to the founders. I met Biz first, then Ev & Jack. Then Goldman. Beyond their amazing talents, the team had passion for their work like I had never seen before. 

We made our initial investment in 2008. There was something like 15 employees in the company. 

Over the next 6 years, I saw a team that worked impossibly long hours. They recruited extraordinary people to join the flock that have given Twitter their all. The founders are all beyond amazing but it would have been simply impossible without the all of the employees that made/make Twitter work every single day. 

And throughout all of their massive growth (user base, revenue, employees, financing) they kept their culture. They kept their taste. They kept their priorities. They kept their sense of humor. They kept their promise to defend the users voice even when governments demanded otherwise and other tech companies chose the easier path and looked the other way. 

Yes, I’m proud to be an early shareholder in this magical company as they go public today. But I’m also beyond proud and grateful to be a member of this Twitter community. It has given me so much by connecting me to the ones I love and things that inform and delight me every single day.

Congratulations Twitter. You changed the world. 

I haven’t done one of these random thoughts in awhile so I thought I would write down a few things. Maybe I’ll pick up one of these topics in the future and expand on them in the near future. 

Ok, in no particular order.

1. I’m on this wonderful music email chain list at the moment. It has about 10 friends on it. So full of life without any pretense. There is something about private networks with shared interests that makes it all so great. And its about as low tech as it gets. I suppose that makes it great too. 

2. A few weeks back I had the pleasure of meeting Trash while he was in NYC. He is one of my favorite photographers and he happens to be a great guy too. We grabbed lunch (he’s also a fellow veggie) and ended up walking around the east village just talking and exchanging stories about our lives. It was awesome. He turned me on to the book Understanding Exposures. Trash told me he only read chapter 1 but loved it. I picked it up and read it last week. Highly recommend this book if you are interested in getting into photography. 

3. My friend Fred is encouraging people to contribute to the new Computer Science Education Fund. It’s a very noble cause and I made my contribution. I hope you all consider donating as well. 

4. This is going to be an exciting month on the work front. One company is going public. Another company will announce they have been acquired. Another company is going to launch a new product to the world. I’m giving a talk at the Boston Investment Conference this week to help raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. Next week I’m going to participate at the New York Times Dealbook conference talking with David Karp (founder/ceo at Tumblr) and David Carr (columnist for the Times).

5. I’m training for the 2014 Boston Marathon. It will be my very first one. I’ve been running more than ever and I’ve got my long distance runs up to 9 miles. But I have a lot of hours and many miles ahead of me. But I’m psyched. 

6. I picked up the new 13" Macbook Pro with Retina display. Best laptop I’ve ever purchased. 

7. Lauren and I are going through some stressful parenting things right now. In the grand scheme of things we count our blessings every day but right now we are in the thick of it and look forward to returning to normalcy — (whatever that means)