Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, in an interview with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, talked about his way of handling criticism, and in particular, how he deals with comments such as “You Suck.” The CEO has been facing a lot of criticism in recent years from both Wall Street and investors for the perceived underperformance of the firm..
Twitter CEO says don’t “care too much”
Citing Costolo’s own remarks, Chang asked the CEO about the audience’s reaction, particularly when people told him ‘You suck,’ during his time as a stand-up comedian. The Twitter CEO just laughed and humbly said “it didn’t get better, by the way.”
The interviewer then asked about the people’s opinion of Costolo as the CEO of Twitter. Costolo answered by stating that some people say “You suck. Get off.” Costolo claimed that he isn’t bothered much by such comments. Moreover, he added that he only started to pay attention to these things after realizing that such incidents might hamper recruitment if people assume, “Well, I want to go to Twitter, but what if Dick’s not there tomorrow and everything changes?”
Is Costolo a good CEO?
Furthermore, when questioned about his leadership abilities, especially in light of the fact that he was not a founder of Twitter, Costolo claimed that a non-founder CEO can contribute thoughtful opinions and effectively run a company. Citing a real-world example, Costolo said that when Jack [founder] came across Vine, he liked it and came up to Costolo to talk about it. Then they both agreed that, “We have to do this.” He also mentioned when the company’s development team told him about Periscope, he knew right away that he had to acquire the app.
Chang also asked the Twitter CEO about the challenges associated with having the right product head, as the micro-blogging site has had five product heads in the last five years. Costolo replied that having the right team for the company is essential, and claimed that he has often encouraged managers to improve the team rather than defend it. The CEO suggested that the company currently has the best possible group of workers.
