Conversations with the most influential figures in media and technology.
May 25-27, 2009
Carlsbad, California
Speaker
Evan Williams 
Co-Founder and CEO
Twitter
Williams was raised on a farm in Nebraska, dropped out of college, was co-founder of Pyra Labs, which created Blogger and sold to Google.
Posts With Evan Williams
After Four Years, Twitter Platform Director Ryan Sarver to Depart
A mainstay of Twitter’s partnership program exits the company.
News Byte
Jelly, Biz Stone’s Startup, Raises a Round (With a Little Help From Friends)
Jelly, the stealthy startup founded by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, announced Thursday that the company just closed its Series A round of venture capital. The round was led by Spark Capital; Bijan Sabet — an early Twitter investor — will join Jelly’s board. Other noteworthy investors include Jack Dorsey, U2’s Bono, Reid Hoffman, Steven Johnson, Evan Williams and Jason Goldman, Roya Mahboob, Greg Yaitanes and former vice president Al Gore.Garrett Camp’s Expa Aims to Channel StumbleUpon and Uber Lessons Into New Companies
“I’ve been sort of doing this informally but I figured I should formalize it,” said Camp.
Evan Williams’s Advice to Start-Ups: Don’t Be Too Data-Driven
Don’t look at stats all the time, says the Twitter and Blogger founder. Fight the dragons and go through the dark forest.
Prepare to Cringe: Your Tweeted Life, Now Available for Download
Thousands upon thousands of tweets on what we were eating for breakfast.
Demand A Plan: Tech Leaders Sign On to Mayors’ Effort to End Gun Violence
Will social media help an effort to ensure gun safety?
News Byte
Motivational App Lift Closes $2.5 Million Round
Lift, the personal motivational mobile app that helps users set and achieve goals for themselves, closed a $2.5 million Series A investment round, the company announced Tuesday. The round was led by Bijan Sabet of Spark Capital, who will join the board of the six-person start-up, reuniting with former Twitter board member and co-founder Evan Williams, whose Obvious Corp. has also invested in the company. Also involved in the round are SV Angel, Adam Ludwin from New York VC firm RRE and, appropriately enough, motivational speakers Tony Robbins, Tim Ferriss and David Allen.Voices
Tech Cash Pours Into Food Start-Ups
There is a frothy new deal in Silicon Valley, and it gives a taste of where some investors are pouring money these days.News Byte
Ex-Twitter Designer Joins Ex-Twitter Pals at Obvious Corp.
Dave Gamache, a designer who recently left his job at Twitter, announced Friday that he would soon join the ranks of Obvious Corp. It’s the outfit founded by Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jason Goldman, three of the earliest Twitter employees (the first two are founders), who are all no longer with the microblogging service. Gamache’s arrival announcement comes soon after news that Ian Ownbey, another Twitter employee, said he would join Branch, a social start-up advised by none other than Obvious Corp.News Byte
Ex-Twitter Employee Joins Social Start-Up Branch
Recent Twitter defector Ian Ownbey will soon join Branch, the New York-based start-up aimed at curating “high-quality public discourse.” Engineer Ownbey will move to the East Coast to join Branch’s eight-man outfit, which is backed and mentored by the Obvious Corporation, a group composed of ex-Twitterers Biz Stone, Evan Williams and Jason Goldman. Branch’s other investors include SV Angel, Betaworks and Lerer Ventures (and more), with advisers such as Jonah Peretti of BuzzFeed.
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