Strategic Thinking in Hatching Twitter by Nick Bilton - Book Report/Review Example

ID Number: Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and BetrayalBook Review The book “Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship and Betrayal” was written by Nick Bilton. There are four main characters in the book they are Jack, Noah, Biz and Ev. These characters at the time of working on Odeo conceived of Twitter which was a kind of doomed attempt so as to revolutionizing podcasting. There was eventually a power struggle due to the ideological and power differences of the four men as their chick was growing up that led them to form a stand-up comedian that took Twitter towards a future that is uncertain. Bilton writing with veracity and pacing of details of a book that is related to a true crime utilizes source material in terms of internal emails of Twitter and even extensive interviews with all the early tweets that is by the founders and the result of which is fast paced as well as exciting as described by the topic. This book is not meant for those who consider Twitter to be a global communication platform but if someone is looking for well written, human drama that has been thoroughly researched, story related to dysfunctional foursome and accelerated unraveling of the partnership that was once so brilliant this is the right book to gain insights. At the initial phase any business can be chaotic but the author describes Twitter to be a chaos in the early stages as well as in the current year that is even in 2011. Its strategy, management, finances and core technology was not comprehensive but was settled. Majority of the employees did not have any idea as to who was minding the entire store. There was a lot of backdrop of the company but it was about to becoming a worth of $15B. The author do not drive in any form of punches but calls out Jack Dorsey who is the successor of self-anointed Steve Jobs and that too with justification. Jack Dorsey often comes in the form of person who is cunning, petulant and egomaniacal. There were doubts that this person was evolving as the iconic leader of Apple and this particular book has been able to confirm this doubt. However it was interesting to visualize the way in which platform thinking was embraced by Twitter. The cofounders of Twitter had been able to analyze fact that success in the current scenario often hinges on the rapid pace of innovation from an ecosystem of a company. The certain recommendations that were proposed by others for the core product of Twitter encompassed hashtag, @symbol and retweet button. It however did not matter much as to whether Ev, Biz and Jack found any significant enhancement to be useful but millions of users of Twitter did find it useful. At many levels this book has proved to be informative for the audience. This book is majorly for those individuals who are interested in technology, social media and entrepreneurship or for the ones who wants a juicy story and gain knowledge about the surrounding world. This story is full of success, friendship, heartbreak and betrayal. Though the book is mostly focused on the Twitter’s four founders but it reflects the power struggles and conflicts of Ev Williams with Jack Dorsey and also their corresponding differences in relation to the vision of the company. On one hand Dorsey felt that Twitter should be aligned towards giving personal status and considered more to be a mobile application. On contrary Williams considered it to be a vehicle for users to update status regarding the events that are taking place in the surrounding environment and focused more on Web. In the initial days Twitter was composed of both the factors. Williams firstly owned the company known as Blogger.com which he later sold to start up the company Odeo which was to finance another set up known to be Twitter. Glass was the actual founder of Twitter but due to his erratic behavior he was dismissed from the company. After this act the CEO position was taken by Dorsey and the position of Chairman was taken by Williams but relationship between the founders turned to be antagonistic. The other team members were not satisfied with Dorsey and he was later replaced by Williams which gave rise to revenge in Dorsey as he was left in a powerless position (Bilton 167).This anger made Dorsey come up as the founder of the company whenever he got a chance in front of the media. The followers of Twitter grew exponentially but such a growth cannot be matched by Williams as he always took decisions slowly and calmly. Williams most of the times hired his friends as he felt that they can be trusted but this proved to be wrong in this case. There were certain investors who supported Dorsey and he was back as the Chairman of the company and Williams was replaced by Dick Costolo as CEO. However in the later years William owned maximum percentage of stock of the company. The author has put Williams in the positive frame in comparison to that of Dorsey as he described the way in which Williams and his wife started up a trust fund mainly for their sons in order to donate their money to any charity in the coming years. Throughout the entire book the author uses the concept of loneliness firstly with Glass and then with Dorsey who served as a motivator to utilize a device such as Twitter in order to connect with other people. Though the book comprises of interesting theory but it has been stretched by the author. In reality the book comprises of a lot of real life drama and does not only create an image of Dorsey who reaches his phone at night in order to connect with others. Reflective Summary I think this book has been able to demonstrate the need for strategic thinking and planning in the business environment. The author Nick Bilton has been able to analyze and reflect upon the pros and cons of doing a business. I feel that this book is very useful for all the business students. The business students can understand well the business scenario through the four characters of the book. These characters have not only reflected the degree of friendship and betrayal but have been able to highlight the real time scenario. I personally feel that the character of Williams is influencing for the business students. This character had lot of passion towards his work and was able to transform the communication platform into a huge success. This is a motivational factor for all the business students. I think that business students can gain insights through the character analysis of the book. This book does not only state the real life drama but also outlines the height of betrayal that a friend can do in business. The platform of twitter that was introduced by the four founders had achieved great success due to the critical thinking of the founders. I feel that Dorsey and Williams has been able to analyze the hidden desire of the internet users and so they invented a platform through which the users can communicate with friends, relatives and even strangers and share status related to the events happening across the globe. This was an innovative medium to bring millions of people in contact with one another. In business classes it is very important to have a clear understanding about the concept of strategic decision making. As I have observed decision making capability is a very integral factor that should be possessed by all the entrepreneurs. In this book I have observed that similar characteristics was present in Williams he was the person who was able to lead a team. This was not possessed by Dorsey he had an erratic behavior which ultimately lead to his termination. I feel that this aspect would be helpful for the business students as this would help them to understand that maintaining right form of behavior is essential for leading a business. According to me the book reveals the necessity of appropriate behavior and its effect on the business environment. In any form of business it is required that the leader works along with the employees which was well observed in the character of Williams that sustained his position in the company. I think that this section of the book would make the business students analyze the importance of collaborative working in a business environment. This would even help the students to gather the qualities that should be present in a successful leader who works for the team. I feel that students who are interested in business classes at some point of time would be interested to set up their own business. For setting up a business according to me it is essential that the founder understands the thought process of their team members and develops strategies to succeed towards a common goal. This book reflects upon that strategic thinking of Williams that draws in insights for the business students. I feel that this book not only represents the positivity amongst the characters but also highlights the negative factors that resulted into downfall. As there is rapid change in innovation it becomes very important for the decision maker to make faster decisions so as to make the business remain competitive in the industry. However I feel that Williams and other board members were not able to make faster decisions on innovation which made other players gain importance in the industry. This is an important learning outcome for the business students. This would be advantageous for the students as it would help in focusing on strategic tools and its importance in a competitive business environment. For business students I feel that theoretical knowledge is not sufficient it should be well supported with practical experiences as outlined in this story. The learning outcome of this story according to me has focused on strategic planning which is important for business students not only to understand but also to incorporate in practical life in future years. The characters that have been portrayed by Bilton I feel is more realistic and there less of drama in the story. These realistic elements of the story would help the business students to analyze the impact of certain decisions and behavior on the future of the company. It is even helpful for the business students as it would help them to reflect on the fact that conflict in relationships between founders can lead to downfall of the company. Work Cited Bilton. Nick., Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal. UK: Hachette.2013. Print. Read More