Wanted: a CEO who spends a lot of time using Twitter and knows how to create great products.
The San Francisco-based company is looking for a new leader after Dick Costolo said on Thursday that he’s stepping down as chief executive officer. Yahoo! Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer, Twitter CFO Anthony Noto and former Google Inc. executive Vic Gundotra were mentioned by analysts as potential candidates.
"We’re looking for someone who really uses and loves the product," said Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter Inc. and is stepping in as interim CEO.1 "Despite all that we have accomplished, the company still has huge unmet potential."
The next chief will inherit a company that’s struggling to speed up user growth and build out an advertising business that can deliver more revenue—in that order. Twitter has 302 million users, compared with 1.44 billion for Facebook Inc., and has cut its revenue guidance for this year after making changes to its advertising business. The new CEO will have to be someone who is focused on getting the product right, rather than an executive with experience in finance or advertising.
"Has to be a product expert," said James Cakmak, an analyst at Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. "I think if you put anybody aside from a product expert at the helm—you’re going to have kind of the same issues."
Twitter could take a page from suggestions made by investor Chris Sacca earlier this month, said Victor Anthony, an analyst at Axiom Capital Management. That could include linking more content to live events, helping to draw visitors. The new will CEO have to improve the user interface to become more intuitive—and also should look at making the platform more social and easier for people to interact, according to Sacca.
While Twitter built its business on letting people share their thoughts and ideas via 140-character updates, it hasn’t been able to become more of a mainstream destination for a wide group of users.
Jason Lemkin, managing director at Storm Ventures, said Twitter needs someone who has already been a CEO, so they can tap the company's growth potential. "This isn't a Hail Mary like Yahoo," he said. "It's never had an experienced CEO. Costolo was not a CEO before. Him being a CEO was a hack—an accident—like Twitter itself.''
The incoming CEO will face even more competition from established rivals such as Facebook and Google Inc., while new challengers such as Snapchat Inc. and Facebook's Instagram are capturing the attention of users.
Other than Dorsey, here are the main potential candidates mentioned by venture capitalists and analysts tracking Twitter:
Vic Gundotra
He left Google in 2014 after leading the Web company's social-marketing efforts, which failed to keep up with Facebook's growth. Gundotra, who held other roles at the search giant, has also worked at Microsoft Corp. Gundotra didn't join another company after his exit, making him potentially more available than other candidates.
Marissa Mayer
Yahoo's current CEO is almost three years into her role at the struggling Web portal. Mayer, also a former Google executive, has come under pressure for failing to drive much sales growth, even as Yahoo's stock rose on the value of its investments. While she would bring a fresh perspective, a transition in the near future to Twitter would leave her turnaround effort at Yahoo incomplete.
Sundar Pichai
Google's senior vice president has been rising in the ranks at the search provider, adding new responsibilities and gaining stature as a public voice for the company. He oversees key areas including search, Android and advertising product and arguably has a larger portfolio than he would running Twitter.
Anthony Noto
The former Goldman Sachs banker joined Twitter as its highly paid chief financial officer last year, after helping lead the company's initial public offering when he was at the investment bank. Though he has a finance background, Noto has increasingly taken on responsibilities at Twitter that test his leadership in new areas, such as marketing, leading to speculation that he's being groomed for more. The company also recently hired Todd Morgenfeld, an executive from Hewlett-Packard, to be vice president of finance. He could step into the CFO job if necessary.
Adam Bain
Twitter president of global revenue grew Twitter's sales from nothing, helping advertisers understand the product as a tool for companies, from live events to customer service. He has already mapped out the next few years for Twitter's business.
Chris Cox
Facebook's top product executive may be hard to get. He's loyal to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and has been at the company since 2005, longer than Sheryl Sandberg. The company promoted him last year. But if Twitter can make a compelling enough offer, Cox could bring the product vision Twitter needs to draw in more users. One hurdle: he hasn't tweeted since 2009.
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