The Real Origin of Twitter

The powerhouse known as Twitter is now worth an impressive 5 billion dollars, almost reaching 10 billion in secondary markets. Although in the beginning, Twitter did not seem so likely for success. It all began when Noah Glass created Odeo. Originally designed for podcasts, this company had a small number of investors including a former Google employee Evan Williams. Soon thereafter the company seemed doomed when Apple announced they would include a podcasting platform on Itunes that was built into the millions of Ipods they were set to sell.  At this time, Evan Williams, the new CEO of Odeo decided podcasting was not in their future and pushed his 14 workers to brainstorm for other ideas. Then Jack Dorsey, one of his workers, came up with the idea of sharing statuses.

In 2006 the idea was presented to the rest of the company, it included a system in which one could text a single number and have it broadcasted to all of their friends. Twitter or "Twttr" at the time was slow to take off and Williams became nervous. After Glass took charge of the project he presented it to Odeo's board and no one paid any attention. It was then Williams wrote a letter to the Odeo investors claiming "to feel bad" that two months after its launch it only had 5,000 registered users and he offered to buy back their stock in Twitter. 

The investors agreed and Williams bought out all 5 million of their combined stock in Odeo and Twitter. Unfortunately for those investors just 5 years later those stock were worth at least 1,000x more, 5 billion. Whether Williams did it on purpose or not once he bought the company, Twitter took off and the rest was history. Business Insider