Friday, April 5, 2019

Things little bird told me : Book review


I am an ardent user of Twitter. Love this internet platform that restricts the usage to 140 characters, emphasizing on the need of crisp and clear communication, allowing us to be more creative in sharing our messages with people around. And hence, picking the book - Things little bird told me, became an obvious choice for me. The book gives a powerful insight into the life of Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter. It is engaging and full of interesting anecdotes. This book chronicles his journey from college drop out to becoming a cofounder of one of the internet sensation platform. It's a journey of an individual who believed in creation of opportunities via creativity and not plain hard work alone.

Stone always believed in creativity and creating opportunities by himself. Whether it was his job as a box mover, designer at a publishing house or at google, or being a podcaster, the fellow kept working on creating new opportunities to test his skills and passion till his heart finally found the idea that struck a chord. From there, there was no looking back. Though, like any other startup, the ride was not an easy one, from bumpy days of software failures and scalability issues etc. , team triumphed all shortcomings by owning their mistake and improving the service. The team put to use the common tricks mentioned in every success books such as know and follow your customer, which they popularly termed 'wisdom of crowds'. Knowing where the trend is going and customizing the tool functionalities to meet those needs, being open-minded to new ideas led Twitter floating so far.
During the course of time, role of Stone also matured in his relationships and at work. There were exits and home coming. There were offers and denials. There were conspiracies and righteousness. He has been open about how his life unfolded at every step. Like that, Twitter also transformed. Who would have thought that a simple communication platform will empower people to do great things. It's astonishing how human race uses this tool in their own creative capacity. Be it doing promotions during political elections, fundraising initiatives, driving positive social changes or simply sharing about mundane work, it has done its work of creating a connected society. As Stone rightly puts that technology has the power to become the 'connectivity tissue of humanity', unite and mobilize people for a better cause. 

Overall, the book is an interesting and easy read, power packed with the life lessons for entrepreneurs. Stone is relatable and quotable. In his closing remarks, he encourages readers to alter their course of journey by taking action ( time and a bit of luck does matter) versus jumping into the chasm blindly. His way of putting events in a quirky way is what brings life to this book. Happy reading!