Dick Costolo

Dick Costolo
Costolo in 2010
Dick Costolo
Born	Richard William Costolo 10 9, 1963
Birthplace	Royal Oak, Michigan, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Business executive, investor
Title	Partner, Index Ventures
Known for	CEO of Twitter (2010–2015)

Richard William Costolo (born September 10, 1963) is an American business executive, entrepreneur, and investor who served as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Twitter, Inc. from 2010 to 2015. Before ascending to the top role, Costolo served as Twitter's chief operating officer (COO), having joined the company in 2009. During his tenure as CEO, Costolo oversaw Twitter's transformation from a fast-growing social media startup into a publicly traded company, guiding it through its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2013. Born and raised in Michigan, Costolo studied computer science at the University of Michigan before embarking on a career that spanned comedy improvisation, technology entrepreneurship, and corporate leadership. Prior to joining Twitter, he co-founded and led several technology companies, including FeedBurner, which was acquired by Google in 2007. After stepping down from Twitter in 2015, Costolo pursued ventures in both investing and entrepreneurship, joining Index Ventures as a partner and co-founding a fitness technology startup.

Early Life

Richard William Costolo was born on September 10, 1963, in Royal Oak, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He grew up in Michigan during a period when the state's economy was closely tied to the American automobile industry. Details about his family background and childhood are limited in publicly available records, though his Midwestern upbringing has been noted in profiles as a factor in his demeanor and management style.

Before entering the technology industry, Costolo pursued an interest in comedy and improvisational theatre. He performed improvisational comedy in Chicago, a city with a storied tradition in the art form through institutions such as The Second City and iO Theater. This background in improvisation would later become a well-known aspect of his public persona, and Costolo has spoken publicly about how the principles of improv — including adaptability, listening, and thinking on one's feet — influenced his approach to business leadership and corporate management. His facility with humor became a distinguishing characteristic throughout his career, particularly during public appearances and in internal communications at Twitter.

Education

Costolo attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science. The university, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is one of the leading public research universities in the United States. Costolo's training in computer science provided the technical foundation for his subsequent career in the technology sector, even as his interests also extended into the performing arts and comedy during and after his university years.

Career

Early Career and Entrepreneurship

After graduating from the University of Michigan, Costolo moved to Chicago, where he initially pursued interests in both technology and improvisational comedy. He eventually transitioned fully into the technology industry, where he became involved in a series of entrepreneurial ventures.

Costolo co-founded several technology companies over the course of the 1990s and 2000s. His most prominent pre-Twitter venture was FeedBurner, a web feed management provider that he co-founded and served as CEO. FeedBurner provided tools for bloggers and publishers to manage and track their RSS and Atom feeds. The company gained significant traction among the growing blogging community and attracted the attention of major technology firms. In 2007, Google acquired FeedBurner, a transaction that brought Costolo into the orbit of one of the world's largest technology companies and cemented his reputation as a successful technology entrepreneur.

Twitter: Chief Operating Officer

In September 2009, Costolo joined Twitter as its chief operating officer (COO). At the time, Twitter was experiencing rapid growth in its user base but faced significant challenges in scaling its operations, developing a sustainable business model, and building out its organizational infrastructure. As COO, Costolo was tasked with bringing operational discipline to the company and helping to professionalize its management structure.

His appointment was covered by technology media outlets, with TechCrunch notably reporting on the hire and framing it in the context of Costolo's background at FeedBurner and his experience in the web publishing ecosystem. The move from Google, where Costolo had worked following the FeedBurner acquisition, to the relatively young and still-private Twitter signaled his preference for the startup environment and his belief in Twitter's potential as a platform.

Twitter: Chief Executive Officer (2010–2015)

In October 2010, Costolo was elevated from COO to CEO of Twitter, succeeding co-founder Evan Williams. The transition was characterized as a planned succession, with Williams stating that he wished to focus on product strategy while Costolo handled the operational and strategic leadership of the company.

Growth and the IPO

Under Costolo's leadership, Twitter underwent a period of substantial growth in both its user base and its revenue. One of the most significant milestones of his tenure was guiding the company through its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in November 2013. The IPO was closely watched by investors and the technology industry, and it marked Twitter's transition from a privately held startup to a publicly traded corporation.

Costolo also oversaw the development of Twitter's advertising products, which became the primary source of the company's revenue. The platform expanded its offerings to advertisers while attempting to balance the user experience with monetization imperatives. During this period, Twitter became an increasingly prominent platform for real-time news, public discourse, political communication, and entertainment, solidifying its role in the global media ecosystem.

In January 2013, Twitter acquired Vine, a short-form video hosting service that allowed users to create and share six-second looping video clips. Costolo himself was among the first to use the service publicly, posting one of the earliest video tweets following the app's launch. The acquisition of Vine was part of a broader strategy under Costolo to expand Twitter's multimedia capabilities and appeal to a wider audience.

SOPA Controversy

In January 2012, during the widespread internet protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), Twitter was notably one of the few major technology platforms that did not participate in the coordinated blackout organized by websites such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and Google. While Costolo publicly stated his opposition to SOPA, he expressed disagreement with the tactic of blacking out services as a means of protest, arguing that it was not the appropriate way for a platform to engage in the policy debate. The decision attracted both criticism and praise, highlighting the complexities of corporate political engagement in the technology sector.

Government Advisory Role

In 2011, President Barack Obama appointed Costolo to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), an advisory group that provides recommendations to the president on telecommunications and cybersecurity policy. The appointment reflected the growing importance of social media platforms in national communications infrastructure and emergency response.

Public Statements on Harassment and Abuse

In February 2015, Costolo publicly acknowledged that Twitter had systemic problems with harassment and abuse on its platform. In an internal memo that was subsequently reported by The Verge, Costolo wrote that the company "suck[ed] at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform" and took personal responsibility for the issue. In the memo, Costolo stated: "We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day." The candid admission drew significant media attention and became a defining moment in the broader industry conversation about online harassment, platform governance, and the responsibilities of social media companies to protect their users.

The harassment issue had been a persistent source of criticism directed at Twitter and at Costolo personally throughout his tenure. Activists, journalists, and high-profile users had repeatedly called on the company to take more aggressive action against abusive behavior on the platform. Costolo's memo was seen by some observers as an overdue acknowledgment of a problem that had been allowed to fester, while others viewed it as a sign of the CEO's willingness to confront difficult issues head-on.

Departure from Twitter

On June 11, 2015, Twitter announced that Costolo would step down as CEO, effective July 1, 2015. Co-founder Jack Dorsey was named interim CEO. The departure came after a period in which Costolo had faced increasing scrutiny from investors and analysts over Twitter's slowing user growth, the company's inability to reach the scale of competitors such as Facebook, and its stock price performance following the IPO.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Costolo had overseen Twitter's IPO and significant revenue growth, but that concerns about the platform's ability to attract and retain new users ultimately led to pressure for a leadership change. Costolo's departure was characterized as a resignation rather than a termination, and he was reported to have maintained a positive relationship with Twitter's board of directors and co-founders.

Following his departure as CEO, Costolo was reported to have planned to step down from Twitter's board of directors as well.

Post-Twitter Career

Investing and Advisory Roles

After leaving Twitter, Costolo transitioned into the venture capital and advisory space. He joined Index Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco, London, and Geneva, as a partner. In this role, he provided strategic guidance and invested in technology companies, drawing on his experience as both an entrepreneur and a public company CEO.

In December 2015, it was reported that Costolo had joined the board of directors of Patreon, a platform that enables creators to receive recurring payments from subscribers. The board appointment reflected Costolo's continued interest in the intersection of technology, media, and creator economies.

Fitness Technology Startup

In January 2016, Costolo announced plans to launch a new fitness technology startup. The venture, which was reported by both The Verge and Business Insider, reflected Costolo's personal interest in fitness and his desire to return to the hands-on work of building a company from the ground up. The startup was described as a fitness software company, though detailed information about its specific product offerings at launch remained limited in initial reports.

Speaking and Public Engagements

Following his tenure at Twitter, Costolo became a sought-after speaker on topics including technology leadership, corporate management, and the role of humor in business. In 2019, the Stanford Graduate School of Business published a case study titled "Using Humor to Break the Status Barrier with Dick Costolo," which examined how his background in improvisational comedy influenced his leadership style and his ability to navigate hierarchical dynamics within organizations.

Costolo also participated in conversations about the media and technology industries at events such as the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where he appeared alongside other industry leaders to discuss the evolving landscape of digital media and advertising.

In a 2022 interview with Bessemer Venture Partners, Costolo reflected on his time leading Twitter and offered insights into the challenges of scaling a social media platform, managing a public company, and making executive decisions under intense public scrutiny.

Silicon Valley Commentary

In October 2015, shortly after leaving Twitter, Costolo was reported to be developing a project related to telling stories about Silicon Valley. The project drew on his unique dual background in comedy and technology, and signaled his interest in commenting on the culture and dynamics of the technology industry from a creative perspective.

Personal Life

Costolo has been publicly noted for his commitment to fitness, which ultimately informed his decision to launch a fitness technology startup after leaving Twitter. His background in improvisational comedy has remained a significant part of his public identity; he has spoken frequently about the connection between improvisation and effective leadership.

Costolo has resided in the San Francisco Bay Area during his years in the technology industry. He has maintained a relatively private personal life compared to some of his peers in Silicon Valley, with limited public information available about his family.

In October 2011, Costolo discussed a range of topics in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, including his views on privacy, free speech, and the technology industry's relationship with government regulation. He indicated that Twitter was "far from" pursuing an IPO at that time, a position that would change within two years as the company prepared for its November 2013 public offering.

Recognition

Costolo's leadership of Twitter during a transformative period for both the company and the broader social media industry brought him considerable public attention. His appointment to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee by President Obama in 2011 reflected his standing as a leader in the technology and communications sector.

The Stanford Graduate School of Business recognized Costolo's distinctive leadership approach by publishing a formal case study examining his use of humor as a management and interpersonal tool. His profile was further elevated by his participation in high-profile industry events, including the Cannes Lions Festival, where he spoke alongside other prominent media and technology executives.

Costolo was also noted in the technology press for his relationships with other prominent Silicon Valley leaders. In 2013, Business Insider reported on a dinner attended by Costolo and several other technology CEOs, underscoring his position within the upper echelon of the industry's leadership community.

His candid acknowledgment of Twitter's failures in addressing platform abuse in 2015 was covered extensively by technology and mainstream media outlets, and has been cited in subsequent discussions about the responsibilities of social media companies in combating online harassment.

Legacy

Dick Costolo's tenure as CEO of Twitter encompassed a period of significant growth and transformation for the company, including its transition from a privately held startup to a publicly traded corporation. He guided the company through its IPO and oversaw the development of its advertising business model, which became the primary driver of Twitter's revenue.

At the same time, his tenure was marked by persistent challenges, including slowing user growth, competition from larger platforms such as Facebook, and the platform's struggles with harassment and abuse. His 2015 internal memo acknowledging Twitter's failures on abuse became one of the most notable public statements by a technology CEO on the subject of online harassment, and it helped shape industry-wide conversations about platform responsibility.

Costolo's background in improvisational comedy distinguished him from many of his peers in the technology sector and contributed to a leadership style that emphasized adaptability, humor, and direct communication. The Stanford case study on his use of humor in breaking status barriers has been used in business education to illustrate alternative approaches to executive leadership.

His post-Twitter career as a venture capital partner, board member, and entrepreneur has reflected a continued engagement with the technology industry across multiple roles. From his early days at FeedBurner through his leadership of Twitter and his subsequent ventures, Costolo's career has spanned several distinct phases of the internet economy, from the rise of blogging and RSS to the dominance of social media platforms and the emergence of the creator economy.