The Unsolicited Advisor

Unsolicited advice for Jack Dorsey, Twitter CEO

Dear Jack,

We’re fans of users of Twitter, so know that it comes from a place of love when we say we think you’re doing it all wrong.

Wall Street (and maybe you as well) would love for Twitter to be a social network. We say it’s not. We say it’s something much more special – a space not for cultivating networks but for wielding influence and discourse.

Perhaps swayed by the frenzy of misguided investors, the current product reaches for users and other social media metrics. For a product with the core asset being content produced mainly by a few influencers, such metrics are pure vanity.

We suggest to change the product focus from social to influencer content. Then partner with your influencers to improve their impact and drive revenue in the process. (A little bit like YouTube.)

Best regards,The Unsolicited Advisor

The Unsolicited Advisor

What is Twitter?

No - Twitter is not a social network.

The core of Twitter is authentic content authored directly by influencers.

Relationshipbased

Content based

Twitter should not be compared to Facebook but to YouTube!

The Unsolicited Advisor

Stop staring at user growth

Access to influencers – and the content they create – is Twitter’s core asset.

Influencers

Tweeter basePotential non-Tweeter

audience

The core product is influencer content, but the product is set-up as if it’s a

social network!

The Unsolicited Advisor

Make it easy for new users to be passive content consumers

2Package the content in stand-alone products targeting specific audiences

The product interface should address non-Tweeters

The social network overhead needs to get out of the way of the core product

– which is the content and the influencers.

1

The Unsolicited Advisor

A feed is cumbersome and blunt

Personal feeds take time to set up and only allow for one lens for every user.

A social network (and the Twitter feed) requires effort to set-up and provides

only one lens to consume content

Content-based products enable users to easily access content and browse across

categories

The Unsolicited Advisor

Here’s what it could look like

Package verticals as separate content products with light editorial curation and commentary.

Teen interestedin celebrities

Rihanna

Kim Kardashian

One Direction

Professional interestedin the markets

Carl Icahn

@GSElevator

Marc Andreessen

Joe the Plumberinterested in sports

Kobe Bryant

Cam Newton

Floyd Mayweather

The Unsolicited Advisor

Current valuation requires steep monetization growthRe-focusing the product will enable Twitter to accelerate the monetization lever

$ 12 billion $ 2 billion

Market capitalization Annual revenue

Revenue per user

Key levers

Users

GROWING

STAGNATING

The Unsolicited Advisor

How to drive that revenue

Not all impressions are created equal.

The advertising product is not eyeballs – it’s the influencers.

The traditional approach is to sell impressions

Twitter has a unique opportunity to sell not

impressions but association

The Unsolicited Advisor

How to drive that revenue

Not all impressions are created equal.

The advertising product is not eyeballs – it’s the influencers.

The traditional approach is to sell impressions

Twitter has a unique opportunity to sell not

impressions but association

Unlocking the true value in association requires partnering with influencers.

The model is not an ad network, but a talent agency for the world’s influencers.

Twitter should have a team nurturing relationships with top influencers and brokering mutually beneficial and

relevant sponsorships.

The Unsolicited Advisor

So, in summary, Jack Dorsey, here’s how you fix Twitter:

1. It’s not a social network but a publishing platform with a ton of influencers2. Re-focus the product to grow audience (vs. users)3. Monetize influencers like a talent agency

How the Twitter productand business model is set

up today

Where the value is

Social network Publishing platformfor influencers

1a

1b

Grow audience withproduct for non-Tweeters

2

Drive revenue with deepintegration with influencers

3

The Unsolicited Advisor

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