Tweets

@yongfook You’ve really executed on this concept well!

Love the simplicity, playfulness, and clarity of the offer. 👍

In school, there are less variables, and there’s more in your control.

“If I show up, study, practice, and execute at a high level, I’ll succeed”

Business has more variables, and less is in your control:

right market x idea x execution x timing x unit economics x distribution

One of the challenges for entrepreneurs (and perhaps other careers) is that you don’t get rewarded for the same things in the market as you did in school.

There’s a similar axiom in business:

You don’t get rewarded for the amount of effort you put in, you get rewarded for the results.

Also, “mastery” on its own isn’t sufficient. You need to identify what people want, deliver on it, and do it at scale while generating profit. https://twitter.com/AdamMGrant/status/1592552616831389698

Podcasts still work this way. ❤️

It’s one of the few mediums that stuck with RSS.

Podcast apps still work the same way your favorite RSS reader did. 👍 https://twitter.com/mitchellh/status/1592642975703912448

Podcasts still work this way. ❤️

It’s one of the few mediums that stuck with RSS.

Podcast apps still work the same way as your favorite RSS reader did. 👍 https://twitter.com/mitchellh/status/1592642975703912448

RT @ZoeSchiffer: Until recently, Mike was the tech lead for all of Twitter infrastructure (and a distinguished engineer — highest level Twi…

@chrisfosterelli I actually really like that jacket

@noahwbragg @potion_so @benln Congrats Noah! Upvoted. Looks great. 🙌

@patio11 Time to bring back yahoo pipes!

Results! 🤣

@sanderfish Haha. Oh that looks fun.

@CometPandaSky These aren't the AI-generated photos, these are the source images I'm going to use.

Hahaha. I searched my Google Photos archive for "Justin Jackson hair," and this is what I found!

https://twitter.com/jreynoldsdev/status/1592375315242061825

@jreynoldsdev Hahaha. I searched my Google Photos archive for "Justin Jackson hair," and this is what I found!

Using @dannypostmaa's tool for this:

https://www.profilepicture.ai/?ref=W0TMtiqAvmd4uxEihXWXWWmqDvr2

Trying an AI photo experiment: training it mostly with "crazy hair / bedhead" photos.

Curious to see what outputs it generates. 😆

Yup.

We can imagine any conversion rate we'd like, but reality can be quite a bit more disappointing. 😆

https://twitter.com/lizmhermann/status/1592360160571576321

@sivers Founders make this mistake all the time:

"If only 1% of visitors buy, then we'll earn $millions/year!"

As long as you're pulling numbers out of the hat, you also have to consider numbers below one percent:

0.5%, 0.0009%, 0.000000002%.

Until you know, you don't know.

A classic human estimating mistake:

"If only 1% of those people do X then we'll get Y!"

(And one of my all-time favorite @sivers' posts)

https://sive.rs/1pct

@yongfook I think it's pretty good!

@chrismoye_esq Thanks!

@dannypostmaa Congrats! 🙌

@theleviallen I dig the second

"The trust and safety team prepared a list of recommendations intended to help Musk avoid the most obvious and damaging consequences of his plans.

The document predicts with eerie accuracy some of the events that follow." – @CaseyNewton @ZoeSchiffer

https://www.platformer.news/p/elon-only-trusts-elon

This is good as well:

https://twitter.com/amattn/status/1592220617075724288

Love this thought from @nomadicdigital:

"I'd point out that changes in trajectory only make an impact if you also have velocity and/or momentum. (If your engine isn't on, it doesn't matter which way you're pointed)."

The concept of trajectory is fascinating to me.

If you're steering a ship, pointing your nose just a few degrees in one direction can wildly change where you end up.

This is true in business (and life)!

Your initial trajectory matters, as do the subsequent adjustments.

The concept of trajectory is fascinating to me.

If you're steering a ship, pointing your nose just a few degrees in one direction can wildly change where your end up.

This is true in business (and life)!

Your initial trajectory matters, as do the subsequent adjustments.

@findmyke @LukeFVL “Why didn’t Elon pay the $1B breakup fee?”

That was the whole point of the court case that occurred from July 8 - Oct 5:

Elon was trying to get out of the deal, and Twitter sued him.

Judges started ruling in Twitter’s favor, so Elon decided to go through with the deal.

@davidfuesser @DarrenShaw_ How do we actually know usage is up?

(Aside from what Elon is telling us)

Any verified sources on that?

Also, how do you know nobody has left?

@petersuhm We don’t know what % of advertising revenue Twitter has lost (advertisers have reportedly been pausing campaigns since April, when the deal was announced).

At his Nov 10 meeting (after layoffs) Elon told remaining employees that “the economic picture ahead is dire.”

Good analysis on Twitter’s debt situation.

(These are estimates, but show you the variables at play) https://twitter.com/EnergyCredit1/status/1591873061149614106

@jackmcdade Why the lucky stiff:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the_lucky_stiff

It's my #Twitterversary! I have been on Twitter for 14 years, since 29 Oct 2008 (via @twi_age).

@BarlowKieran Not sure what you mean.

@findmyke @DarrenShaw_ $2.5 billion in ARR would be approx 26 million Twitter Blue subscriptions.

(So far, about 61,000 folks have signed up)

Is it possible to get to 26 million subscribers before burning too much cash?

@findmyke @DarrenShaw_ Previously, Twitter's revenue was $5 billion/year (90% of which was ad revenue).

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/twitter-reaches-5-billion-total-revenue-year-gains-6-/?trk=organization-update-content_share-article

How do you think Elon will replace that revenue?

@davidfuesser @DarrenShaw_ What are you seeing that makes you think "it might just work?"

@davorminchorov Why do you say "he must be seeing something we do not see?"

Isn't it also possible that the reverse could also be true?

RT @DarrenShaw_: Here's a helpful timeline of Elon's Twitter takeover from @mijustin.

I'm really starting to wonder if his objective is to…

@matdrewin I don't know how much more of a beating the Tesla stock (and Elon's net worth) can take.

Even the richest man in the world can't burn cash forever (especially when he has to sell a rapidly depreciating asset to do it).

So far he's sold $19 billion in shares (~10% of net worth):

@davorminchorov I've compiled all of the events so far to help folks see the full picture:

https://justinjackson.ca/is-twitter-done

I don't know how much more of a beating the Tesla stock (and Elon's net worth) can take.

Even the richest man in the world can't burn cash forever (especially when he has to sell a rapidly depreciating asset to do it).

So far he's sold $19 billion in shares (~10% of net worth)

@neilsuperduper Ah! Good catch. I totally didn't get that inference.

I've updated the post. Thanks! 👍

Twitter Blue is paused for new signups (as of 2 days ago).

If it's true that roughly 61,000 had signed up, he gained about $500,000 in monthly revenue.

Unclear when it will relaunch and how much it will end up earning. Estimates ranged between $15m-$300m/year.

@ChaseGiunta Twitter Blue has been paused for new signups (as of 2 days ago).

If it's true that roughly 61,000 had signed up, he gained about $500,000 in monthly revenue.

Unclear when it will relaunch and how much it will end up earning. Estimates ranged between $15m-$300m/year.

I recreated the timeline of Elon’s Twitter takeover so far.

Curious: looking at the timeline, what do you think is most likely to happen?

https://justinjackson.ca/is-twitter-done

I think the biggest question is if Musk will be able to continue to fund it.

His net worth has already fallen to $199B (down from $340B a year ago).

For Twitter, he's had to sell $19B of his Tesla shares (10% of net worth).

He says Twitter is currently losing $4M/day.

Is Twitter done?

@ryanseanbadger @Apple Yup. This new one looks a bit better in that regard?

(I still have the old Apple TV)

Dear @Apple,

Please make a backlit Apple TV remote.

Thanks,
Justin

@jeffSARRIS @Stoniphantom @TransistorFM Thanks so much for using Transistor, Jeff!

Means a lot to a small indie team like us.🥰

“When scientists disagree, there’s an unwritten understanding: either I’m right and you’re wrong, you’re right and I’m wrong, or we’re both wrong.

Most often, the answer in a debate is ‘we need more data, so let’s go have a beer.’” – @neiltyson

☝️ need more of this in society

RT @manton: Ten years ago I stopped posting to this account because I was ready to move beyond Twitter. I think we've built something uniqu…

@raae @Ad4mWood @philhawksworth Mastodon gives every user profile an RSS feed as well:

@mijustin.rss" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mastodon.social/@mijustin.rss

More thoughts on Mastodon (and how to join) here:

https://justinjackson.ca/thoughts-on-mastodon

@5harath I’m really digging it. There’s a bit of a learning curve (but that was true for Twitter too)

You can view that particular post here:
@mijustin/109326520818918884" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mastodon.social/@mijustin/109326520818918884

On Mastodon:

📝 you can edit posts
🗒️ posts can be 500 characters long
#️⃣ hashtags are pretty important for discovery

@raae @philhawksworth YESSSS

@thisiskp_ Many people in "tech twitter" and "indie hacker twitter" have already migrated to Mastodon:

@mijustin" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mastodon.social/@mijustin

People interested in trying it can join here:
https://mas.to/

@stephenrobles Sending you and your family lots of ❤️

@mattwensing Happy birthday 🎉

@_duncanmcclean I’ll invite you

A good summary of what’s going on at Twitter:

https://pxlnv.com/linklog/today-at-twitter/

RT @KurtWagner8: Plot twist! I’m told while Wheeler did indeed resign earlier today, Elon convinced her to stay.

@adamwathan Congrats! Amazing achievement. 🎉

RT @kyurieff: Things are fine

@misterparker @kylegawley @itsurboyevan Search-based advertising is a lot different than social. (Intent based)

Reddit hasn’t ever been profitable:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4477033-reddit-unprofitable-despite-growth

@kylegawley @misterparker Twitter hasn’t always lost money.

Generally, as @itsurboyevan said:

“Twitter has a text paradigm. The monetization opportunities resulting directly from text are subpar. Being a text media company has been a bad business since the internet got started.” https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1590094905644560384

@finereli Have you read Incredible Doom yet? https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1569120509455138817

@misterparker It really feels like the ship is on fire and sinking.

https://twitter.com/IGN/status/1590849538147115008

@finereli YES! I was a BBS kid. 😊

Also experimenting (and having fun) on Mastodon:
@mijustin" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mastodon.social/@mijustin

Feels like the old internet (FidoNet, BBSes, Geocities, UseNet).

I'm @mijustin@mastodon.social there.

I'll be sad if Twitter goes away.

I've built so many internet friendships here.

I'll be spending more time on my email newsletter.

Join here and let's keep the conversation going. 🤞

https://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

@nathanbarry As @MKBHD says: "The internet runs on ads. 90% of Twitter's revenue comes from ads."

Today, five of the execs responsible for Twitter's ad business quit (brand & safety, ad sales, security, compliance).

This doesn't look good.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/10/twitter-elon-musk-resignations-yoel-roth-robin-wheeler/

@IGrabill Not just those two.

"Earlier Thursday, three top executives responsible for security and compliance also resigned."

These 5 execs represented Twitter's major revenue stream (ads). You don't mess around with the channel bringing in 90% of revenue.

https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/10/twitter-elon-musk-resignations-yoel-roth-robin-wheeler/

@IGrabill Ok, following your logic:

If he *expected* them to leave then...

a) why not fire them when he fired everyone else?
b) why would he make his first public appearance (on the Spaces call) with them?
c) why would he rely on them so heavily wrt Twitter's ad business?

@ianlandsman "During the event, Wheeler tried to get Musk to talk about brand safety and content moderation, but he mostly only wanted to discuss product."

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/twitter-loses-two-more-top-executives

@IGrabill I don't think any of this was expected. 😜

Elon was relying on both of them to do PR and to help him reassure brands.

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/twitter-loses-two-more-top-executives

It seems to be confirmed now that the two execs on yesterday's Spaces call with Elon have left Twitter.

https://www.axios.com/2022/11/10/twitter-loses-two-more-top-executives

Listen to that audio again: this was a last-ditch effort to save Twitter's advertising business.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1RDGlabMNOgJL?s=20

@noahwbragg They were the two primary people on the Spaces call with Elon yesterday.

These departures are massively bad news for Twitter.

These two were responsible for ad sales + brand safety for advertisers (90% of Twitter's revenue).

They were the two primary people on that Spaces call with Elon yesterday (meant to calm advertisers).
https://twitter.com/sarafischer/status/1590829648039985152

As @MKBHD says: "The internet runs on ads."

90% of Twitter's revenue is ads.

If this story is true, Twitter's ad revenue is about to evaporate.

https://twitter.com/sarafischer/status/1590825690802233344

I'm not cheering for the death of Twitter (or for Elon to fail).

My point (all along) was that he had no plan for Twitter and was likely to kill it.

https://twitter.com/ZoeSchiffer/status/1590812793787518977

I've seen small, bootstrapped companies agonize over privacy laws, GDPR compliance, and security concerns.

"Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC" is peak billionaire entitlement and hubris.

FTC spokesperson: "No CEO or company is above the law."

Moves like this are shitty for employees (making engineers "self-certify compliance with FTC requirements?!?") and shitty for users.

You can't do shit like this when you have 400 million users.

<warning: elon criticism>

"Move fast and don't give a shit about FTC rules or the privacy and security of your users."

"This will put huge amount of personal, professional and legal risk onto engineers. All of this is extremely dangerous for our users."

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23451198/twitter-ftc-elon-musk-lawyer-changes-fine-warning

Build in public:

The idea of rebuilding the @TransistorFM marketing site was overwhelming.

Instead, I'm working with @polarizetech to iteratively improve different sections of the website.

(It's also a good example of how to customize @statamic CMS and @tailwindcss styling)

These are pretty wild. 😆

Did a second run of AI photos with a different training set (using @dannypostmaa's
ProfilePicture AI) and got pretty different results this time.

http://www.profilepicture.ai/?ref=W0TMtiqAvmd4uxEihXWXWWmqDvr2

@kaleighf Congrats! 🎉 Awesome achievement.

I should clarify: the "Content Warning" feature isn't just for "trigger warnings."

It's also a way of hiding content that folks might find overwhelming/tiring/negative as well.

This feature ensures you're not contributing to someone else's doomscrolling.

This is a great purpose for your business as well: https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1572254339087101952

@CasJam @ianlandsman I just wrote some thoughts on Mastodon here:

https://justinjackson.ca/thoughts-on-mastodon

@mjwhansen I'm @mijustin@mastodon.social

@mijustin" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://mastodon.social/@mijustin

@davenguyencode 🥰 Join my newsletter as well!

http://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

It feels like this feature affirms both perspectives we see here on Twitter:

"I need to confront some (negative) realities."

and

"I need to protect my mental health from a constant stream of negativity."