Twitter CEO Dick Costolo says company thinks of money as being "like oxygen" as he avoids IPO confirmation
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has described money as being “like oxygen” but has denied it is the company’s core motivation in response to being asked about the company’s expected IPO.
Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Costolo attempted to side-step the question over the company’s plans for an IPO by denying that the company was motivated by money.
“I don’t try to get caught up in the short term-thinking about the company, in terms of the product, where we’re taking the product, in terms of reacting to what is happening on the market and the value of the company,” explained Costolo. “We have a very specific point on the horizon and we are trying to guide the company towards this notion of a global town square. It applied to Twitter, it applies to Vine and we all internally think about the things we want to achieve in order to get us there. They will work and be successful on their own merits, not in reaction to any third party valuation of the company or anything along the product lines that another company does. I try to keep the people inside the company focused on goals not competitors…you have to be smart about the landscape but then you have to be smart about where you want to take the company yourself.”
Asked how important making money was for the company, he responded that the business was growing “quite well” before adding “We think of revenue like oxygen. It's necessary for life, it's vital to the health and success of the business, but it's not the purpose of life. You don't get up in the morning and say, 'I've got to get enough oxygen.'“
Costolo has repeatedly avoided confirming rumours of an IPO, which is expected to take place in 2014.