Dick Costolo

Costolo graduated from the University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a university founded in Detroit in 1817 that moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1837; it is governed by a statewide-elected Board of Regents and also has campuses in Dearborn and Flint.Open the full entry in 1985 with a B.S. in computer science. After graduating he spent several years performing with improv comedy groups, including Chicago’s Annoyance Theater.⁠[1][2][3]

Costolo founded and led several startups; FeedBurner, which he co-founded and ran as chief executive, was acquired by GoogleGoogleGoogle is an American technology company founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and incorporated in 1998. It became an Alphabet subsidiary in 2015. Its businesses include internet search, advertising, software platforms, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.Open the full entry in 2007, after which he joined Google, and in 2009 he joined Twitter.⁠[2][3][1][4]

On October 4, 2010, Costolo, then Twitter’s chief operating officer, succeeded Evan Williams as chief executive, with Williams moving to focus on product strategy.⁠[4]

On May 4, 2013, Costolo gave the University of Michigan’s spring commencement address and received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. From the stage he photographed thousands of graduates and tweeted the picture, and urged them to be bold, figure out what they love and “go do that.”⁠[1]

On June 11, 2015, Twitter announced that Costolo had decided to step down as chief executive effective July 1, with co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey serving as interim CEO and Costolo remaining on the board. He said in the announcement: “There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition.”⁠[5]

On March 22, 2018, the a16zAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry Podcast released “a16z Podcast: Improv'ing Leadership,” a conversation between Andreessen Horowitz general partner Peter Levine and Costolo. It was recorded as part of BreakLine, a program hosted at Andreessen Horowitz that prepares military veterans for careers in technology. The episode was uploaded to the a16z YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry channel on January 1, 2019.⁠[6][7]

The conversation covered passion, humor and resilience in leadership; Costolo talked about running Twitter before and after its IPO, being suddenly thrust into the public spotlight, how improv and imagery relate to leadership, and the difference between preventing mistakes and correcting them quickly.⁠[6]

After leaving the Twitter CEO role, Costolo co-founded the venture capital firm 01 Advisors, where he is a co-managing partner; the firm’s team includes Adam Bain, among others. He has also served as a consultant on HBO’s series Silicon Valley.⁠[2][8]

01 Advisors: Official website: https://01a.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

X: Public account: https://x.com/dickc (opens in a new window).⁠[8]