Hatching Twitter

Hatching Twitter recounts a story that is far more dramatic than the clean and polished narrative the company later presented to the world. Nick Bilton reveals a messy origin filled with rivalry, betrayal, ambition, loneliness, and the accidental creation of one of the most influential platforms in modern history. The idea that would become Twitter did not emerge from a carefully structured business plan but from a failing podcast startup called Odeo, where a group of young dreamers searched desperately for something that might save the company from collapse. Jack Dorsey, who at the time was working as a programmer obsessed with mapping the movement of people in real time, had been thinking for years about a way for individuals to broadcast short updates about what they were doing. Noah Glass, one of the most emotionally driven members of the team, became captivated by the idea of using technology to connect people who felt isolated. Their collaboration, combined with the open-ended support of Evan Williams, who had previously founded Blogger and brought financial resources to Odeo, eventually produced a service focused on short, public messages that spread instantly across a network. The early concept revolved around answering the question, “What are you doing?” But as people began using it for breaking news, organizing movements, and following major events, the service expanded beyond simple updates and became a global tool for real-time storytelling. When Jack famously typed the first official message in March 2006, no one involved imagined that this experiment—originally intended as a side project—would fundamentally reshape journalism, political activism, celebrity culture, and interpersonal communication.

The Struggling Startup That Became a Serendipitous Launchpad

Odeo’s collapse was essential to Twitter's birth. When Apple announced plans to enter podcasting directly through iTunes, Odeo’s core premise evaporated. Employees were demoralized, investors were frustrated, and the founders desperately sought a lifeline. Inside this chaotic environment, ideas circulated frantically, and Jack and Noah pitched the concept that would soon become Twitter. Evan Williams, who had invested heavily in Odeo using the money he earned from selling Blogger, eventually agreed to give the project a chance. The team built a crude prototype almost overnight, driven by urgency rather than strategy. The new system relied heavily on SMS functionality and short character limits, largely due to technical restrictions rather than design genius. Yet these constraints shaped its distinct personality. Messages were brief, fast, and disruptive, unlike anything available online at the time. In 2007, recognizing that Odeo would not survive, Williams returned investor funds, purchased the company himself, and spun Twitter out as its own independent entity. This bold decision, which some saw as reckless, became the turning point that allowed the platform to evolve beyond experimentation. Twitter slowly gained traction through word of mouth, tech conferences, and early adopters who used it to stay connected in real time. What started as a tool for friends quickly shifted toward public broadcasting, especially when early media figures and cultural influencers embraced it. The shift from personal diary-style posts to ...