Benedict Townsend

There are allegations of yelling, bullying, and even, quote, creepy behavior towards female employees that were leveled against the founder, claims he denied. But for the others, I imagine that running a product inevitably wasn't quite as exciting as inventing and launching one. Surely a monotony sets in when you transition from potential to reality. But not according to Russ.

There are allegations of yelling, bullying, and even, quote, creepy behavior towards female employees that were leveled against the founder, claims he denied. But for the others, I imagine that running a product inevitably wasn't quite as exciting as inventing and launching one. Surely a monotony sets in when you transition from potential to reality. But not according to Russ.

But Russ, too, ended up saying an early goodbye to Vine.

But Russ, too, ended up saying an early goodbye to Vine.

In October 2015, it was announced he would leave his role as creative director as part of a restructure at Twitter, which saw over 300 Twitter employees lose their jobs. This was done ostensibly to speed up internal work at Twitter, where its structures and hierarchies had become crowded and messy.

In October 2015, it was announced he would leave his role as creative director as part of a restructure at Twitter, which saw over 300 Twitter employees lose their jobs. This was done ostensibly to speed up internal work at Twitter, where its structures and hierarchies had become crowded and messy.

It was likely also due to the fact that Twitter, much like Vine, had real trouble making money, with its net income in 2015 being a cool minus $521 million. We only know this now, but in fact, Twitter actually wouldn't make any positive net income until 2018 and 2019, before losing it again in 2020 and, at the time of recording, never getting it back. To you or I, this may seem slightly insane.

It was likely also due to the fact that Twitter, much like Vine, had real trouble making money, with its net income in 2015 being a cool minus $521 million. We only know this now, but in fact, Twitter actually wouldn't make any positive net income until 2018 and 2019, before losing it again in 2020 and, at the time of recording, never getting it back. To you or I, this may seem slightly insane.

If I was operating at a $500 million annual loss, I'd probably make a few changes, you know, maybe buy fewer coffees and avocados. But tech giants like these are used to tying value to social and cultural dominance. It's just that every so often the small fact that they don't make any money and in fact lose enormous amounts of money can kind of rear its ugly head. But we'll get back to that later.

If I was operating at a $500 million annual loss, I'd probably make a few changes, you know, maybe buy fewer coffees and avocados. But tech giants like these are used to tying value to social and cultural dominance. It's just that every so often the small fact that they don't make any money and in fact lose enormous amounts of money can kind of rear its ugly head. But we'll get back to that later.

Of course, not every tech company was facing the same struggle. I mean, in the first quarter of 2015, Facebook made $500 million because Facebook, unlike Vine or Twitter, had worked out a way to get ads in front of eyes in a way that actually made money. That's also why Instagram, Facebook's own adopted child, was allowed to roam even more freely than Vine was.

Of course, not every tech company was facing the same struggle. I mean, in the first quarter of 2015, Facebook made $500 million because Facebook, unlike Vine or Twitter, had worked out a way to get ads in front of eyes in a way that actually made money. That's also why Instagram, Facebook's own adopted child, was allowed to roam even more freely than Vine was.

But none of this, of course, would be Russ's concern for much longer.

But none of this, of course, would be Russ's concern for much longer.

continue working on vine that other idea that russ was exploring turned into a phenomenon that was known as hq trivia remember that i used to play that every day i really did russ founded it along with colin kroll and it grew to 2.5 million players at its peak but that's for another podcast With the founders all gone, Vine needed a new team.

continue working on vine that other idea that russ was exploring turned into a phenomenon that was known as hq trivia remember that i used to play that every day i really did russ founded it along with colin kroll and it grew to 2.5 million players at its peak but that's for another podcast With the founders all gone, Vine needed a new team.

Now, remember Rich from episode one, the New Jersey designer who'd been super excited when Vine first launched? Well, as luck would have it, by 2015, he'd banked himself a job at Vine.

Now, remember Rich from episode one, the New Jersey designer who'd been super excited when Vine first launched? Well, as luck would have it, by 2015, he'd banked himself a job at Vine.

Rich started out as a regular designer and was later promoted to head of design. And you don't need to know much about tech to know that that is a positive upgrade.

Rich started out as a regular designer and was later promoted to head of design. And you don't need to know much about tech to know that that is a positive upgrade.