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!
