1. EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY OF LEFKE
FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING
GÖKHAN ÖZKÖK
282364
ENGG437
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & LEADERSHIP
ASSIGNMENT#1

2. Jack Dorsey
Born November 19, 1976 (Age 35)
Place of Birth St. Louis, Missouri, U.S
Residence San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation Web Developer, Entrepreneur, Invertor
Net Worth $1.13 Billion (est.)
Companies Twitter - FourSquare
Dorsey at the 2012 Time 100 Gala
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

3. Biography & Synopsis
Computer programmer and entrepreneur Jack Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an
American web developer and businessman widely known as the creator of Twitter and as the
founder and CEO of Square, a mobile payments company. In 2008, he was named to the MIT
Technology Review TR35 as one of the top 35 innovators in the world under the age of 35.
Innovator and commuter programmer, Jack Dorsey, is best known as the creator of Twitter, a
social media tool that uses short messages to share personal expression. In the beginning, the
service was deemed shallow and ego-driven by many a naysayer, but it gained respect as it was
used by major organizations and movements as a powerful platform for political, social, and
personal campaigns.
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

4. Early Life
Dorsey grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and by age 13, he had become interested in dispatch
routing. Some of the open sourcesoftware he created in the area of dispatch logistics is still
used by many taxi cab companies. He went to high school at Bishop DuBourg High
School and attended the Missouri University of Science and Technology before subsequently
transferring to New York University, where he first conceived the idea for Twitter.
While working on dispatching as a programmer he later moved to California.
In Oakland in 2000, Dorsey started his company to dispatch couriers, taxis, and emergency
services from the Web. His other projects and ideas at this time included networks of medical
devices and a "frictionless service market". In July 2000, building on dispatching and inspired in
part by LiveJournal and possibly by AOL Instant Messenger, he had the idea for a Web-based
realtime status/short message communication service.
When he first saw implementations of instant messaging, Dorsey had wondered if the
software's user status output could be shared among friends easily. He approached Odeo, who
at the time happened to be interested in text messaging. Dorsey and Biz Stone decided that
SMS text suited the status message idea, and built a prototype of Twitter in about two weeks.
The idea attracted many users at Odeo and investment from Evan Williams who had
left Google after selling them Pyra Labs and Blogger.
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

5. This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

6. Creation of Twitter, Inc.
After a brief stint at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, Dorsey transferred to New York
University. In the tradition of computer science entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark
Zuckerberg, he dropped out of college before receiving his degree. Instead, Dorsey moved to Oakland,
California, and in 2000 started a company offering his dispatch software through the Web. Shortly after starting
his company, Dorsey came up with the idea for a site that would combine the broad reach of dispatch software
with the ease of instant messaging, and approached a now-defunct Silicon Valley company called Odeo to
pitch the concept. "He came to us with this idea: 'What if you could share your status with all your friends really
easily, so they know what you're doing?'" said Biz Stone, a former Odeo executive. Dorsey, Stone and Odeo
co-founder Evan Williams started a new company, called Obvious, which later evolved into Twitter. Within two
weeks, Dorsey had built a simple site where users could instantly post short messages of 140 characters or
less, known in Twitter parlance as "tweets.“ On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey posted the world's first tweet:
"just setting up my twttr."
Dorsey, Stone and Noah Glass co-founded Obvious which then spun off Twitter, Inc. In his role during the
pivotal days of the company's founding, a compilation chronicling the originally named "twttr" and the time
leading up to the official launch, is shown in a timeline of tweets revealing Twitter's beginnings. As chief
executive officer, Dorsey saw the startup through two rounds of funding by the venture capitalists who backed
the company. On October 16, 2008 Williams took over the role of CEO, and Dorsey became chairman of the
board. On March 28, 2011, Dorsey returned to Twitter as Executive Chairman.
As the service grew in popularity, Dorsey chose improving uptime as top priority, even over creating revenue –
which, as of 2008, Twitter was not designed to earn. Dorsey described the commercial use of Twitter and its
API as two things that could lead to paid features. His three guiding principles, which are shared by the whole
company and through its culture, are simplicity, constraint and craftsmanship.
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

7. This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

8. Twitter Success
Twitter was initially derided by some as a tool for the shallow and self-centered to broadcast the
minutiae of their lives to the universe. Late-night comedy host Conan O'Brien even featured a
segment called "Twitter Tracker" that mocked users of the service. In its early days, the site also
suffered from frequent service outages. But as celebrities and CEOs alike began tweeting,
Twitter was no longer the brunt of so many jokes. Suddenly the head of the "microblogging"
movement, Twitter became a powerful platform for U.S. Presidential candidates Barack
Obama and John McCain in 2008, as a method for updating their supporters while on the
campaign trail.
Twitter vaulted to international prominence after the June 2009 presidential elections in Iran,
when thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets to protest the claimed victory of
incumbent Mahmoud Ahmedinajad. When the government blocked text messaging and satellite
feeds of foreign news coverage, Iranian Twitter users flooded the site with live updates. A U.S.
State Department official even emailed Dorsey to request that Twitter delay its scheduled
maintenance so that protestors could keep tweeting. "It appears Twitter is playing an important
role at a crucial time in Iran. Could you keep it going?" said a State Department spokesman,
describing the call. Twitter complied.
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

9. Beyond Twitter
2010, Twitter had more than 800 million users who together tweeted some 400 million times a
day. Jack Dorsey, however, had set his sights on other projects. He became an investor in the
social networking company Foursquare and launched a new venture, Square, which allows
people to receive credit card payments through a tiny device plugged in to their mobile phone
or computer. Twitter may have already revolutionized the way that people communicate, but
Dorsey isn't done yet. "In terms of technology, we're going to see a better and more immediate
experience around the everyday things we do in life," Dorsey said.
Creation of FourSquare, Inc.
Dorsey developed a small business platform to accept debit and credit cards on a mobile
device called Square, released in May 2010. The small, square-shaped device attaches to
iPhone, iPad or Android devices via the headphone jack, and as a mini card reader allows a
person to swipe their card, choose an amount to give to the recipient and then sign their name
for confirmation. Square is also a system for sending paperless receipts via text message or
email, and is available as a free app for iOS and Android OS. The company grew from 10
employees in December 2009 to over a hundred employees by June 2011. Square's office is
located on Mission Street in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. In September
2012 Business Insider magazine valued Square Inc. at $3.2 billion.
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

10. This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1

11. References
• Features, List. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/pictures/ekge45eg/jack-dorsey/.
• Karsten Strauss, Karsten. "The New Billionaire Behind Twitter And Square: Jack Dorsey". Retrieved 25 July 2012.
• Strange, Adario (April 20, 2007). "Flickr Document Reveals Origin Of Twitter". Wired News (CondéNet). Retrieved November 5,
2008.
• "TR35 Young Innovator". Technology Review (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
• Glaser, Mark (May 17, 2007). "Twitter Founders Thrive on Micro-Blogging Constraints". Public Broadcasting Service.
Retrieved November 5, 2008.
• "Co-founder of Twitter receives key to St. Louis with 140 character proclamation". ksdk.com. KSDK. September 19, 2009.
Retrieved September 29, 2009. "After high school in St. Louis and some time at the University of Missouri-Rolla, Jack headed
east to New York University.“
• BusinessWeek (March 26, 2007). "Tech's Next Gen: The Best and Brightest". BusinessWeek (The McGraw-Hill Companies).
Retrieved November 5, 2008.
• Miller, Claire Cain (October 16, 2008). "Twitter Sidelines One Founder and Promotes Another". The New York Times (The
New York Times Company). Retrieved November 5, 2008.
• Wagner, Mitch (June 24, 2008). "Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: Improved Uptime Is Top Priority". InformationWeek (United
Business ...Media). Retrieved November 5, 2008.
• Wagner, Mitch (June 24, 2008). "Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Talks About Its Business Model". InformationWeek (United
Business
This is made by Gökhan Özkök ( 282364 ) for ENGG437 Assignment#1