College is not for everybody. We know about a few successful people who actually dropped out but still found success from their innovations. Christopher “Biz” Stone co-founder is a prime example. Dude dropped out of college, twice. Look where he is at now. Check out his new career move after the jump.
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Twitter Inc. co-founder Christopher “Biz” Stone dropped out of college—twice, from Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts, Boston—yet this fall he’ll be advising M.B.A. students at the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business on topics such as entrepreneurship and innovation.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Stone, who left day-to-day operations at the microblogging service in June but is still an adviser, discusses teaching creativity and entrepreneurship. (Mr. Stone will serve as an Executive Fellow at the Haas School for one year.) Edited excerpts:
WSJ: You’re the new Executive Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Haas School, expected to serve as an adviser to the administration and students. What exactly will you be doing with that position?
Mr. Stone: I have been meeting with the dean [Richard Lyons] and speaking at Haas since 2008. I’ll talk to students, counsel professors on some of the curriculum. That’s a really fun prospect.
Everything I’ve done, I’ve made up. Some of that might have been right, most of it was probably wrong. The parts that worked would be good to teach.
WSJ: Any examples?
Mr. Stone: When I studied graphic design, I learned a valuable lesson: There’s no perfect answer to the puzzle, and creativity is a renewable resource. Also being playful, less structured, less hierarchical. Aspects of that playful approach I’ve taken can be added on to classes.
WSJ: You never got an M.B.A., yet you co-founded Twitter and did pretty well for yourself. Why should someone pursue an M.B.A.?
Mr. Stone:I never even graduated college. I never finished learning, as it were, and I have a psychological need to be in a learning environment at all times. But it’s different for everybody. For an M.B.A. program, people are looking for a change, to hit the reset button on life, take a more meaningful path. I can help with that.
WSJ: You are known as a serial entrepreneur, with ventures including [blogging sites] Xanga and [Google Inc.’s] Blogger, [podcasting company] Odeo, [Internet company] Obvious and Twitter. (Mr. Stone worked on Xanga, Blogger and Odeo, and co-founded Obvious and Twitter.) Can you—or anybody—teach innovation?
Mr. Stone:You can show people how to unlock their creativity and their empathy. These are things that are present, but not everyone knows how to access them readily. Approach it as an artist first, entrepreneur second. You’re not teaching innovation, you’re teaching how to walk in another person’s shoes, and that allows them to think more freely.
WSJ: You were instrumental in connecting Twitter to the masses, often through talk-show appearances in which you explained how people use the service. What can you teach about communication?
Mr. Stone: Communication was the source of all of our problems in the beginning, and [later] it was one of the most important things to help us move forward. With eight or 12 people in the room, there was the wrong assumption that naturally we were communicating.
One of the most important things is to over-communicate.
WSJ: Twitter has been known for its open culture, a culture of trust, and Friday afternoon “tea time,” in which employees are exposed to sensitive corporate information. Can that method work for companies in every industry?
Mr. Stone: I think it can be adopted. You extend trust first if you want trust back, that’s a fundamental thing. If you’re thinking of acquiring a company and want to keep it a secret, tell everyone in the company, let them all in on the truth. Say, “Listen, if this gets out, we’ll probably lose the deal, so we’re all in this together.” People are getting more sophisticated. The only way to deal is by being honest and open and truthful.
WSJ: At Twitter, you went through three CEOs in the past few years. What lessons have you drawn from management turmoil and boardroom drama that you can pass along to students?
Mr. Stone: You can think about a company or product as a living, breathing thing. Think, “If this company were a person, what would it care about?” In terms of leadership changes, if you take your ego out of the picture, you can constantly be asking yourself, “Who is the right person?” Whether you like it or not, the answer is not always you.
WSJ: Twitter has had its share of suitors in recent years, including Google and Facebook. What can you teach people about how to know when to sell their company or remain independent?
Mr. Stone: There’s a couple of reasons why you would [sell]. Personal choice—you don’t want to work anymore, you want money. Or there’s “Oh my gosh, we’re getting completely crushed by lawsuits and competition and we better sell this thing.” Or the third reason, the acquirer is offering us a number which far exceeds the potential we think we can reach. If none of those reasons are there, then why quit?
