On Monday, 29 November 2021, the chief executive officer of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter in 2006 – announced his resignation. Surely, this is a remarkable development that may not only be unexpected but hold interesting implications. This article will consider this: As Twitter CEO resigns – lessons for your business.
The Announcement
Disclosing his resignation in a post on his official handle, Mr. Dorsey maintained that he believed the company was ready to move on from its founders. Subsequently, Mr. Parag Agrawal was announced as the new CEO and a member of the board.
But then, what lessons can you glean for your business from this development? Here are some of them.
Do not leave all eggs in one basket
Surely, this is not the end of the road for Mr. Dorsey. At age 45, he is still the chief executive of Square. Square is a financial payments company that has a market capitalization surpassing $98 billion. You can compare this with Twitter’s $38 billion.
In today’s economy, it may not be ideal to have only one source of revenue or be engaged with a single business. Indeed, the more you broaden your horizon and create multiple business opportunities, the more stable your future can become.
Have diversified interests
Jack Dorsey as is well known is passionate about bitcoin (BTC). For instance, the hashtag #bitcoin is prominent in his Twitter bio. More so, he helped make sure users of Twitter can give each other tips using crypto. He is quoted to have professed his interest to work on Bitcoin if he were not at Square or Twitter. This was at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. As such, it is not far-fetched to say Mr. Dorsey will focus his attention on Bitcoin or Crypto Projects as he steps down.
In the same vein, do you know that Dorsey’s announcement led to quite a degree of a surge in Bitcoin that day?
Clearly, it is good to have something to be passionate about aside from your business. Resigning or leaving a business does not necessarily mean you have to remain idle. You should have other interests – business and otherwise – that you can fall back on.
Do great things – and do them well
After the announcement on Monday, Twitter’s stock increased by over 10%. In addition, there were reports of a halt in trade on the New York Stock Exchange after the spike. However, Sky News reported shares later resumed trading with a gain of more than 4.5 percent.
The above reactions of the market show the impact a business can have. Certainly, being able to have an impact on the market is a goal a business can aspire towards.
There will be naysayers
Even in the court of public opinion, you and your business may not be free from criticisms and questioning. For instance, last year, Paul Singer – a Twitter stakeholder, and founder of Elliot Management – publicly criticized Mr. Dorsey on his ability to run two companies at the same time.
As such, you should have a focus on your business and not expect to be free from criticism.
Pay your dues
Jack Dorsey had a role at Twitter for a period of almost 16 years. He moved from position to position. These included co-founder, CEO, Chair, Exec Chair, interim CEO, and back to CEO again. Surely, these positions gave him an intimate experience of the business.
Being co-founder of a business does not mean you cannot explore other job roles. Moreover, seeing the business from various functional departments can improve your understanding of the business. When you “pay your dues” this way, you reap the benefit of having good experience with various aspects of your business.
Foster a culture of independence
According to Mr. Dorsey, a company being “founder-led” can be limiting. A company should be able to break away from its founding and founders. Clearly, you can see the result in Twitter having capable hands such as Parag and Bret Taylor to take up the positions of CEO and Board Chair respectively. Interestingly, Parag began as an engineer.
Your business should grow to the point of its system not having to depend on a single team player. What if they leave? Your success as a founder or co-founder can be measured by how many competent hands you have to fill the gap.
Give your appointees room to work
Again, Mr. Dorsey expressed his unwillingness to stay behind as a Chair. He wants to give Parag the space to lead. More so, he thinks it is important a company is independent and free of influence from its founder.
Now, that is refreshing. You should not clip the wings of your new appointees. Give them rein to fly.
Work Continues…
A rolling stone does not leave moss behind; as the saying goes. It is business continues for Twitter. It should be the same for you too. As Twitter CEO resigns, – lessons for your business should be put into use. After all, it is always good to leave a legacy behind.
