Hatching Twitter Book Summary - Hatching Twitter Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Hatching Twitter summary

Nick Bilton

A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal

4.5 (12 ratings)
28 mins
Table of Contents

    Hatching Twitter
    Summary of 13 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 13

    Before founding Twitter, Evan Williams helped start the blogging craze with the site Blogger.

    So many of us use Twitter to share our lives, thoughts and opinions – but have you ever asked yourself how it all started? It might shock you, but the birth of Twitter began with a college dropout from Nebraska named Evan Williams

    Ev, as Williams was known, showed a strong entrepreneurial instinct from a very young age.

    He was already trying out business ideas in his teens, and during high school he went door to door selling a VHS tape that explained what the internet was. 

    He later brought this entrepreneurial spirit to California and the flourishing start-up scene of the Bay Area. It was there, after learning how to code, that he and a few friends started a business called Pyra. As a side project, Ev built a journal-like website to help Pyra employees track their workflows. The employees used it so much that in 1999 he launched it as a public service called Blogger. The idea behind Blogger was to allow ordinary people who lacked computer programming knowledge to easily create their own internet journal or diary. By releasing Blogger to the public, Ev helped invent the idea of a blog

    But although Blogger quickly became popular among internet users, Ev’s struggles to keep up with the business’ bills and paperwork led the other Pyra employees to quit in frustration. He was left all alone to run the business, which he ran out of his own living room.

    But Blogger continued to explode in popularity because people loved the opportunity to express their own perspectives, opinions and experiences. By 2002, Blogger’s continual growth had allowed Ev to hire a few programmers and improve his office space. And the site continued to grow, until in 2003 Google bought Blogger (and Pyra) for millions of dollars.

    This money would later be crucial for Twitter’s genesis.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Hatching Twitter?

    Key ideas in Hatching Twitter

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Hatching Twitter about?

    Hatching Twitter tells the story of the four men responsible for Twitter as we know it. It’s a tale of backstabbing, superstar glory and billions of dollars that chronicles the drama and defining decisions that made Twitter what it is today.

    Who should read Hatching Twitter?

    • Anyone who uses Twitter
    • Anyone who is interested in Twitter’s impact and origins
    • Anyone who works in a start-up
    • Anyone interested in the dangers of mixing business and friendship

    About the Author

    Nick Bilton writes the Bits Blog for the New York Times. He’s an expert on technology, culture, business and the way the internet affects our lives. He is also the author of I Live in the Future and Here's How It Works.

    Categories with Hatching Twitter

    Books like Hatching Twitter

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    27 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial