WHEN: Today, Thursday, November 7th
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"
Following is the unofficial transcript of a FIRST ON CNBC interview with Twitter CEO Dick Costolo. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000215683.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
CARL QUINTANILLA: WE WANT TO BRING IN DICK COSTOLO THE CEO OF TWITTER. HE JOINS US HERE AT POST 9 HAVING JUST DONE A BRIEF VINE WITH ME WHILE WE WERE WAITING. DICK, CONGRATULATIONS. WELCOME.
DICK COSTOLO: THANKS VERY MUCH. THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
QUINTANILLA: THIS HAS BEEN A LONG ROAD. HOW DOES IT FEEL?
COSTOLO: WELL I THINK, YOU KNOW, IF I HAD TO SUMMARIZE IT, I WOULD SAY THAT WE ARE ALL VERY PROUD OF THE COMPANY, OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED. AND AS WE – ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE HAD OUR USERS UP THERE FRONT AND CENTER IS BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN OUR USERS WHO HAVE GOTTEN US TO WHERE WE ARE TODAY. BUT, I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT WE KNOW WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF US. WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK TO THE OFFICE TONIGHT AND GETTING STARTED WITH ALL THAT.
JIM CRAMER: YOU ARE A NOTORIOUSLY OPEN COMPANY AND A NOTORIOULSY OPEN-HANDED MAN. WHAT IS IN THE ROOM LAST NIGHT WHEN ANTHONY NOTO FROM GOLDMAN, TALKING TO YOUR CFO – WHAT WAS IT LIKE? WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH TO GET RIGHT?
COSTOLO: WELL YOU KNOW, I THINK THESE THINGS CAN SOMETIMES BE PAINTED TO BE LIKE A LOCKER ROOM BEFORE THE GAME AND EVERYONE IS KIND OF HUDDLED UP TOGETHER. THE REALITY IS, IT'S A MUCH MORE LENGTHY PROCESS WITH LOTS OF PAPERS MOVING AROUND THE TABLE AND DIFFERENT DECISIONS BEING MADE. AND IT IS TRYING TO SEQUENCE – YOU KNOW, OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, WE MET WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY NUMBER OF POTENTIAL INVESTORS IN THE COMPANY. REALLY TRYING TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING AND A FEEL FOR HOW THEY ARE THINKING ABOUT THE COMPANY VERSUS HOW WE THINK ABOUT THE COMPANY. HOW WE ARE ALL THINKING ABOUT THE GROWTH OF THE COMPANY AND FUTURE PLANS OF THE COMPANY AND THEN JUST TRYING TO MAP OUT THE FUTURE OF OUR VERY PUBLIC SHAREHOLDER BASE AND HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT OUR GOING FORWARD PLANS.
CRAMER: TO ME THIS DEAL SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING WHERE YOU WANT MONEY FOR THE COMPANY. BUT 'M NOT HEARING THAT IT'S A BIG LIQUIFYING EVENT FOR THE INSIDERS.
COSTOLO: NO, NO. IN FACT IT WAS ALL PRIMARY. EVERY – ALL THE CAPITAL RAISED TODAY IS GOING INTO THE COMPANY. AND I THINK THAT WAS PART OF THE WAY WE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS ENTIRE PROCESS THAT WE WENT DOWN. A SINGLE CLASS OF SHARES. WE TRIED TO HAVE A VERY CLEAN PROCESS. THE TEAM THAT WORKED ON IT INSIDE THE COMPANY WAS VERY METHODICAL AND PARTICULAR ABOUT THE ENTIRETY OF THE PROCESS AND I'M VERY JUST ECSTATIC ABOUT ALL THE WORK THEY DID.
DAVID FABER: DICK, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT GROWTH, THE ONE CONCERN THAT I PICKED UP FROM THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING INVESTING IN YOUR STOCK, IS NEW USER GROWTH HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH THEY BELIEVE – OR THEY KNOW – IS SLOWING. IS THAT A CONCERN TO YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
COSTOLO: WE'VE HAD CONSISTENT, TREMENDOUS GROWTH ACROSS THE WORLD, FRANKLY FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. OVER 230 MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS. NOW, I THINK WE'VE GOT A TREMENDOUS SET OF THOUGHTS AND STRATEGIES TO INCREASE THE SLOPE OF THE GROWTH CURVE. I WOULD CONSIDER SOME OF THEM TACTICS. SOME OF THEM BROADER STRATEGIES. IN SERVICE TO DOING WHAT I REFERRED TO AS BRIDGING THAT GAP BETWEEN THE MASSIVE AWARENESS OF TWITTER AND DEEP ENGAGEMENT ON THE PLATFORM.
FABER: SO WHAT DOES THAT MAN?
COSTOLO: WELL, THERE IS AN ENTIRE SET OF STRATEGIES LIKE THE ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE INTO TWITTER. FROM THAT MOMENT YOU HEAR ABOUT IT AND YOU COME TO THE SURFACE AND SIGN UP TO REALLY GETTING IT, UNDERSTANDING IT AND BECOMING ACTIVE ON THE PLATFORM. ONE OF THE FASCINATING THINGS ABOUT TWITTER IS THAT THE LANGUAGE OF IT, THE SCAFFOLDING WITHIN IT REALLY IS AN EVOLUTION OF HOW USERS HAVE LEARNED TO NAVIGATE WITHIN THAT 140 CHARACTER SPACE. BUT THAT LANGUAGE AND THAT SCAFFOLDING CAN BE CONFUSING AND OPAQUE TO USERS WHO COME TO THE SERVICE FOR THE FIRST TIME. SO IT'S ABOUT DEVELOPING PROCESSES AND CAPABILITIES THAT ALLOW THE FLEXIBILITY AND POWER FOR USERS TO NAVIGATE WITHIN THAT SPACE. SO MAKING IT VERY CLEAR AND SIMPLE THE NEW USES ARE COMING TO THE PLATFORM.
QUINTANILLA: SO FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO ARGUE, CURATION IS STILL DIFFICULT. IT HAS GOT A LOT OF NOISE, THE LANGUAGE IS ARCHAIC. YOU'RE SAYING THE PLATFORM WILL LOOK DIFFERENT A YEAR FROM NOW, MATERIALLY DIFFERENT?
COSTOLO: WHAT I'M SAYING IS, IT'S ALL ABOUT MAKING IT VERY SIMPLE AND EASY FOR NEW USERS TO COME TO THE PLATFORM AND UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE PLATFORM, ENGAGE WITH CONTENT EASILY AND IMMEDIATELY ON THE PLATFORM WHILE STILL ENABLING THAT ARCHITECTURE AND LANGUAGE THAT'S DEVELOPED FROM THE VERY USERS WHO WE HAD ON STAGE TODAY LEVERAGE IT THE WAY THEY LIKE TO.
CRAMER: YOU KNOW, COMPANIES LOVE USERS. BUT IF USERS ARE INVOLVED IN AN IPO WHERE A STOCK OPENS AT 40 AND YOU FEAR ANOTHER FACEBOOK, WHAT CAN DO YOU ABOUT IT?
COSTOLO: LOOK, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'VE GONE THROUGH A PROCESS THAT I THINK HAS GOTTEN US TO THIS POINT WITH A GROUP OF INVESTORS WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT BRINGING INTO THE COMPANY, ALL OF OUR USERS NOW BEING ABLE TO BE INVESTORS IN THE COMPANY, THAT'S NOTHING BUT EXCITING FOR US. I THINK IT'S ALL ABOUT NOW THE VERY LONG, LONG-TERM BUSINESS WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD. WE HAVE AN ABSOLUTE PERSPECTIVE ON THE LONG-TERM KIND OF COMPANY WE WANT TO BE, IN SERVICE TO BEING THE PUBLIC CONVERSATIONAL REALTIME DISTRIBUTED PLATFORM. WE BELIEVE WE'RE THE ONLY COMPANY THAT IS ALL OF THOSE AT SCALE AND IN SERVICE TO AMPLIFYING THOSE CHARACTERISTICS AND GROWING THE BUSINESS TO REALLY ENABLE THE 2.4 BILLION CONNECTED PEOPLE IN THE WORLD TO ALL BECOME USERS OF THE PLATFORM. I THINK THAT IF THERE'S ONE THING THAT EVERYBODY IN THE COMPANY BELIEVES, IT'S THAT WE ALL HAVE EXAMPLES IN OUR OWN LIVES OF WHY THIS SERVICE COULD BE USEFUL AND VALUABLE TO EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET AND IT'S OUR GOAL TO ACHIEVE ALL THAT.
FABER: I MEAN, AGAIN, BACK TO THIS NEW USER GROWTH QUESTION, I UNDERSTAND THE VALUE IN TWITTER FOR ME. I'M A JOURNALIST. I MEAN, IT MADE SENSE EARLY ON. BUT FOR MY MOM OR FOR MY KIDS, WHAT'S THE CONVERSATION THAT GETS THEM TO SAY I WANT TO DO THIS?
COSTOLO: THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE YOU TALK TO WHO SAY JUST WHAT YOU JUST SAID, I GET THE VALUE OF IT, IT INDISPENSABLE TO ME. IT'S ALL ABOUT -- IT'S ALL ABOUT FOR US HELPING PEOPLE BRIDGE THAT GAP BETWEEN I'VE HEARD ABOUT TWITTER TO GETTING EXACTLY WHERE YOU AND SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE HERE TODAY ARE.
CRAMER: THERE ARE MANY COMPANIES THAT WOULD KILL FOR YOUR GROWTH, INCLUDING SOME OLD LINE BEHEMOTHS, LIKE A MICROSOFT. WHICH OF THESE COMPANIES APPROACHED YOU – EVEN SOME OF THE NEWER ONES – AND SAID, LISTEN WE'LL PAY $20 BILLION, WE WANT TO OWN YOU.
COSTOLO: I THINK WE MADE IT VERY CLEAR ALONG THE WAY THAT WE HAD EVERY INTENTION OF BEING AN INDEPENDENT COMPANY. THAT WE FELT LIKE WE HAD SO MUCH WORK TO DO TO ACHIEVE THE KIND OF GOALS WE HAD IN FRONT OF US. AND THAT SORT OF CLARITY OF FOCUS AND CLARITY OF PURPOSE FROM THE BOARD ON DOWN THROUGH THE COMPANY MADE IT FAIRLY EASY FOR US TO MAKE THE KINDS OF DECISIONS WE MADE.
QUINTANILLA: CAN YOU ENVISION – YOU KNOW, WE TALK ABOUT AMAZON AND ZILLOW ALL THE TIME. HOUSEHOLD NAMES, THEY'RE BIG --
COSTOLO: ALL THE TIME?
QUINTANILLA: ALL THE TIME. WELL, MAYBE NOT ALL THE TIME –
COSTOLO: LIKE, YOU KNOW, LAST NIGHT AT COCKTAIL HOUR WE WERE TALKING ABOUT ZILLOW?
QUINTANILLA: KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.
COSTOLO: YOU KNOW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. BY THE WAY, I HAVE A LAPTOP IN FRONT OF ME THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING BUT IT LOOKS WONDERFUL.
QUINTANILLA: WHAT? YOU THINK THIS IS REAL?
COSTOLO: YEAH.
QUINTANILLA: THERE ARE MODELS WHERE PROFIT IS NOT A PRIORITY, RIGHT? DO YOU ENVISION GOING WITHOUT PROFITS FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME?
COSTOLO: THERE IS NOTHING STRUCTURAL ABOUT OUR BUSINESS THAT PREVENTS US FROM ACHIEVING THE KINDS OF MARGINS OF THE OTHER KINDS OF COMPANIES IN OUR PEER GROUP. BUT, I HAVE EVERY INTENTION IN THE NEAR TERM OF CONTINUING TO INVEST IN THE KINDS OF STRATEGIES THAT HAVE WORKED SO WELL FOR US. IT'S TWITTER IN TV. AS TWITTER INCREASINGLY BECOMES THE SECOND SCREEN FOR TV. IT'S ALL OF THIS ONBOARDING WORK THAT WE ARE DOING AROUND THE WORLD, MAKING SURE WE'VE GOT PEOPLE ON THE GROUND IN COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD, DRIVING UNIQUE REGIONAL CONTENT ON TO THE PLATFORM, IN SERVICE TO MAKING IT THE PUBLIC REALTIME CONVERSATIONAL DISTRIBUTED PLATFORM. SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE THOSE INVESTMENTS AS LONG AS WE SEE TREMENDOUS GROWTH THERE.
CRAMER: IS PROFITABILITY AN IMPEDIMENT TO YOUR GROWTH?
COSTOLO: I DON'T THINK ABOUT IT THAT WAY AT ALL. I THINK ABOUT OUR INVESTMENTS IN THE GROWTH STRATEGIES WE'RE PURSUING AROUND THINGS LIKE TWITTER AND TV, ALL THOSE REGIONAL CONTENT PARTNERS THAT WE WANT TO DRIVE REGIONAL, UNIQUE CONTENT INTO THE PLATFORM AS SERVING GROWTH. AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT AS LONG AS WE SEE THE OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
FABER: THE MO-PUB DEAL THAT YOU DID NOT VERY LONG AGO IN TERMS OF -- I THINK IT'S THE LARGEST MOBILE AD EXCHANGE. IT HASN'T GOTTEN A GREAT DEAL OF FOCUS. I KNOW SOME. IS THAT AN IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF THE STRATEGY AT TWITTER?
COSTOLO: YEAH, I WOULD – SURE.
FABER: BECAUSE I'VE BEEN HEARING IT WAS AN IMPORTANT DEAL FOR YOU. OBVIOUSLY IT WAS LARGE GIVEN THE SIZE OF THE COMPANY AT THE TIME.
COSTOLO: SURE. I WOULD SAY THAT THAT ACQUISITION, LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER ACQUISITIONS WE HAVE MADE RECENTLY, LIKE BLUE FIN LABS IN BOSTON WERE ALL ABOUT ACCELERATING THE GROWTH OF THE COMPANY IN SERVICE TO THE KINDS OF GROWTH THAT WE ALREADY KNEW WE WANTED FOR THE COMPANY. IN MO-PUB SPECIFICALLY, IT WAS ABOUT BRINGING REALTIME BIDDING INTO TWITTER AND JUST AS INTERESTINGLY THINKING ABOUT AS WE DEVELOP THIS NOTION OF THE NATIVE AD UNIT, A PIECE OF CONTENT, THE TWEET THAT CAN ALSO BE AN AD AND PROMOTED TO OTHER USERS, IT'S THINKING ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEVERAGE THAT NATIVE AD UNIT ACROSS THE ENTIRETY OF THE MOBILE ECOSYSTEM.
CRAMER: WHERE ARE YOU IN TERMS OF THE GREAT BUSINESSES I'VE SEEN, THEY START – AND YOU DON'T EVEN NEED SALESPEOPLE. BECAUSE THE ADVERTISERS WANT TO BE INVOLVED. DO YOU NEED SALESPEOPLE RIGHT NOW?
COSTOLO: YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO START OUT WITH THE LARGE BRAND ADVERTISERS, TYPICALLY THE HARDEST TO ATTRACT TO AN ADVERTISING PLATFORM AND WE HAVE 94 OF THE AD AGE 100, TOP 100, ALREADY WORKING WITH US THIS YEAR. SO WE HAVE A VERY HIGH TOUCH DIRECT SALES FORCE THAT WORKS WITH THOSE FOLKS, WORKS ON CRAFTING SOLUTIONS AND STRATEGIES OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR OR MORE WITH THOSE FOLKS AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO INVEST IN THAT.
QUINTANILLA: FACEBOOK HAS ADOPTED HASH TAGS, AT REPLYS. THEY'VE PUT VIDEO ON INSTAGRAM. DO YOU FEEL LIKE THEY'VE COPIED YOU, STOLEN FROM YOU, DOES IT MATTER? IS COPYCATTING A RISK GOING FORWARD?
COSTOLO: YOU KNOW, I MENTIONED THIS EARLIER AND I'LL SAY IT AGAIN. WHEN I THINK ABOUT OUR PLATFORM AS PUBLIC REALTIME CONVERSATIONAL AND DISTRIBUTED, AS LONG AS WE INVEST IN THE THINGS THAT HAVE GOTTEN US HERE AND WE INVEST IN AMPLIFYING THOSE CHARACTERISTICS, IN SERVICE TO MAKING TWITTER THE INDISPENSABLE COMPANION TO LIFE IN THE MOMENT, TO THE LIVE EXPERIENCE, THEN OUR SUCCESS WILL BE DETERMINED BY OUR ABILITY TO GO AMPLIFY THOSE CHARACTERISTICS. WE DON'T FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO EITHER PIVOT FROM MANY OF THOSE CHARACTERISTICS OR INVEST IN A FIFTH CHARACTERISTIC THAT WE DON'T HAVE. IT'S ALL ABOUT AMPLIFYING THE EXISTING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLATFORM.
CRAMER: MANY COMPANIES THAT WE HAVE DEALT WITH IN THE INTERNET SPACE HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE MIGRATION. SO QUICKLY FROM DESKTOP TO YOUR HANDSET, TO YOUR CELL PHONE. ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE MORE MONEY ON CELL PHONE THAN YOU WOULD ON DESKTOP?
COSTOLO: WELL, IT IS ALREADY THE CASE THAT MOBILE IS OVER 70% OF OUR AD REVENUE.
CRAMER: YOU MAKE MORE MONEY ON AN AD UNIT.
COSTOLO: MOBILE IS ALREADY THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF OUR TOTAL REVENUE. WE DON'T –
CRAMER: BUT AGAIN, WOULD PEOPLE PAY MORE FOR AN AD BECAUSE IT NOT HAPPENING ANYWHERE ELSE, IS IT WITH YOUR MODEL?
COSTOLO: I'LL SAY THIS. BECAUSE OUR AD UNIT IS CONTENT FIRST, THE ADVERTISER TWEETS IT OUT ORGANICALLY TO THEIR OWN FOLLOWERS. IT GOES OUT FOR FREE TO THEIR FOLLOWERS AND THEN THEY CAN MAKE IT AN AD. THEY'RE PARTICULARLY RESILIENT TO BEING, FRANKLY, SPAMMY ADS. BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT TO SEND SOMETHING ANNOYING OR INTERRUPTIVE TO THEIR OWN USERS. SO THE FACT THAT IT IS CONTENT FIRST AND THEN MADE INTO AN AD, MAKES, I THINK, OUR PLATFORM PARTICULARLY RESILIENT AND SUITABLE TO THE MOBILE ADVERTISING PLATFORM.
QUINTANILLA: BY THE WAY, WE'RE EXPECTING A PRICE INDICATION IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MINUTES HERE. I THINK AROUND 9:45 –
CRAMER: YOU ARE HEARING IT FILTER IN THE BACKGROUND. BUT THERE'S NO SELLERS TO SPEAK OF IS WHAT I KEEP HEARING OUT OF ONE EAR.
FABER: DICK, 75% OF YOUR USERS ARE OVERSEAS OR NOT DOMESTIC. AND YET MOST OF YOUR REVENUES OF COURSE COME FROM THE U.S. WILL THAT CHANGE AND HOW WILL YOU GO ABOUT CHANGING IT?
COSTOLO: WE STARTED IN THE U.S. WITH OUR DIRECT SALES FORCE. IN FACT, OUR SELF-SERVE PLATFORM IS STILL ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE U.S., SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY OBVIOUSLY TO INVEST IN OUR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS. THERE ARE MANY COUNTRIES IN WHICH WE -- WE DON'T HAVE ANY SALES EFFORTS YET. WE JUST HAVEN'T BEGUN THEM. SO WE'LL DO THAT, AGAIN, AS WE HAVE OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, DELIBERATELY, THOUGHTFULLY TAKE SUCCESS THAT WE DEVELOP HERE IN THE U.S. AND START TO, YOU KNOW, COPY, PASTE THAT STRATEGY AROUND THE REST OF THE WORLD.
FABER: YOU DON'T THINK THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY ABOUT THE PRODUCT THAT APPEALS TO A DOMESTIC AUDIENCE AS OPPOSED TO THOSE INTERNATIONAL?
COSTOLO: NO. ABSOLUTELY NO. IT IS SIMPLY A FUNCTION OF INVESTING IN THE U.S. FIRST, AGAIN, HAVING SOME OF THE SMALL BUSINESS MARKET CAPABILITIES LIKE THE SELF-SERVE AD PLATFORM UP AND RUNNING HERE IN THE U.S. AND NOT HAVING LAUNCHED THOSE YET INTERNATIONALLY.
CRAMER: HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU FOLLOW AND WHO DO YOU LOVE FOLLOWING?
COSTOLO: I FOLLOW HUNDREDS OF ACCOUNTS. I CHANGE THEM ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE I WILL ATTEMPT TO TRY TO FOLLOW DIFFERENT KINDS OF ACCOUNTS TO LEARN THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT USERS USE THE PLATFORM. I'LL GIVE A SHOUT OUT TO MY BUDDY BILL SIMMONS, THE SPORT JOURNALIST, BILL SIMMONS.
CRAMER: REALLY?
QUINTANILLA: OH YEAH.
COSTOLO: BECAUSE I LOVE FOLLOWING BILL SIMMONS.
CRAMER: OH MAN, I FOLLOW HIM TOO. HE IS DYNAMITE.
COSTOLO: HE'S DYNAMITE.
QUINTANILLA: STILL WAITING ON A PRICE INDICATION OUT OF BOB IN A FEW MOMENTS. YOU – THERE ARE LOCKUP EXPIRATIONS --
COSTOLO: YOU'RE DOING GOOD JOB OF BOTH MONITORING --
QUINTANILLA: THANK YOU. TRYING TO WATCH THE CLOCK.
COSTOLO: THE PRICE AND THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT QUESTION TO ASK ME AT THE SAME TIME.
FABER: AND HE TWEETS, TOO. HE'S TWEETING WHILE HE – HE'S INCREDIBLE.
COSTOLO: THERE ARE THREE OF YOU GUYS AND I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE TWO OTHER PEOPLE UP HERE SO WE COULD REALLY KIND OF LIKE –
FABER: YOUR POSSE.
COSTOLO: I DON'T KNOW. IT IS TWO ON ONE.
QUINTANILLA: THERE ARE LOCKUP EXPIRATIONS. THERE IS ONE IN FEBRUARY --
COSTOLO: MY COMPUTER DOESN'T – I DON'T HAVE A FUNCTIONING THING I CAN DO RESEARCH ON LIKE YOU GUYS DO.
QUINTANILLA: THERE'S ONE IN APRIL. HAVE YOU MADE A COMMITMENT NOT TO SELL ANY SHARES FOR A GIVEN PERIOD OF TIME?
COSTOLO: WE HAVE AN INVESTOR. OUR INVESTOR AND EMPLOYEE BASE HAS AGREED TO A LOCKUP OF I BELIEVE IT'S THE 180 DAYS. YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I THINK THAT'S ALL IN SERVICE TO, ESPECIALLY AS I MENTIONED HERE EARLIER, ENTIRELY A PRIMARY OFFERING TODAY. WE JUST WANT THIS TO BE A CLEAN OFFERING AND TAKE IT FORWARD. WE HAVEN'T MADE ANY PLANS YET AT ALL ABOUT HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT THINGS LIKE WHAT A SECONDARY MIGHT LOOK LIKE, WHEN IT WOULD BE. WE'LL LOOK AT OBVIOUSLY THE ENTIRETY OF OUR – HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT OUR FUTURE GROWTH, HOW WE'RE THINKING ABOUT NEXT YEAR AS WE THINK ABOUT THOSE THINGS, THEY'RE NOT FRONT AND CENTER IN OUR MIND RIGHT NOW.
CRAMER: NOW, WE'RE HEARING 40, 44. WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY A VERY BIG PRICE. DID YOU PICK THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE BECAUSE YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT THE WAY THE FACEBOOK DEAL WENT WITH NASDAQ?
COSTOLO: WE PICKED THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH THEM CLOSELY OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS. THEY'VE BEEN A GREAT PARTNER OF OURS. WE LIKE THE WAY THEY THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE TWITTER PLATFORM, WE LIKE THE WAY THEY USE THE TWITTER PLATFORM. THAT WAS I WOULD SAY THE CENTRAL TO OUR THESIS IN USING THEM.
FABER: HOW MUCH IS THE PLATFORM GOING TO CHANGE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? BECAUSE I ASKED THAT BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE I THINK WHO ARE BELIEVERS HERE ARE JUST SIMPLY BELIEVERS IN THE POWER OF YOUR PLATFORM BUT DON'T NECESSARILY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE IN THREE TO FIVE YEARS.
COTSOLO: I THINK THAT WE, YOU KNOW, TALKED ABOUT THIS BRIEFLY EARLIER. IT'S ALREADY THE CASE THAT SO MANY PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S THIS INDISPENSABLE COMPANION TO THE LIVE EXPERIENCE. WHATEVER THAT LIVE EXPERIENCE IS, WHETHER IT'S A FOOTBALL GAME, AN NFL GAME I'M WATCHING RIGHT NOW AND I JUST GET THE NFL INSTANT REPLAY OF THE DOLPHINS SACKING THE BENGALS QUARTERBACK IN THE END ZONE FOUR SECONDS AGO OR WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW ON THE FLOOR. FOR US IT'S ALL ABOUT INVESTING IN THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP EVERYONE IN THE WORLD UNDERSTAND THAT.
FABER: WOW.
QUINTANILLA: LAST QUESTION, HERE DICK AS WE AWAIT THE OPEN HERE IN A FEW MOMENTS. PERSPECTIVE, RIGHT? YOU'VE COME PUBLIC AT A TIME WHERE THERE HAVE BEEN BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS, ABOUT THE BACK STABBING, ABOUT THE IN FIGHTING. HAS THAT BEEN FRUSTRATING? HAS IT BEEN AMUSING? IS IT JUST PART AND PARCEL OF CREATING A NEW BUSINESS?
COSTOLO: I'LL SAY A COUPLE THINGS ABOUT THAT. THESE STARTUPS, THEY ALWAYS EVOLVE FROM THE BEGINNINGS AND THE PEOPLE WHO WERE THERE IN THE VERY BEGINNING TO WHAT THEY EVENTUALLY BECOME, PARTICULARLY THE SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES OF WHICH THERE ARE SO FEW THAT MAKE IT AS FAR AS THIS COMPANY HAS COME. BUT FOR ME SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE SO MUCH WORK TO DO AND SO MUCH WORK AHEAD OF US IN SERVICE TO MEETING THE GOALS OF THE COMPANY ACROSS ALL THE SORT OF KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE WANT TO FULFILL FOR THESE CONNECTED PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD. I DON'T HAVE ANY TIME TO SORT OF LOOK BACK AND THINK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THREE YEARS AGO. I COULD FILL ALL 24 HOURS OF THE DAY WITH ALL THE WORK WE HAVE AHEAD OF US.
QUINTANILLA: AND YOU DO. YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO FLY BACK TODAY TO TRY TO BE IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE MARKET CLOSE. IS THAT RIGHT?
COSTOLO: THAT'S CORRECT. I'M GOING TO FLY BACK TODAY TO TRY TO BE WITH THE TEAM IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE MARKET CLOSE. I'VE GOT A BUNCH OF THINGS I WANT TO TALK TO THE COMPANY ABOUT AND TALK TO THE TEAM ABOUT. ALL THIS WORK I'VE JUST MENTIONED JUST HERE THIS MORNING THAT WE HAVE AHEAD OF US. I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT ENORMOUS RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE HAVE NOW TO BOTH OUR SHAREHOLDERS AND OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT TO OUR USERS AND MAKE SURE THE TEAM IS FOCUSED AND READY TO GO. YOU KNOW, WE GOT A BIG GAME COMING UP AGAINST THE PACKERS NEXT WEEK.
QUINTANILLA: I JUST WANT TO BE ON THE RECORD. THIS LAPTOP DOES WORK.
COSTOLO: I KNOW, I'M JUST –
FABER: ABSOLUTELY IT WORKS.
CRAMER: I'M SO TIRED OF RETWEETING YOUR TWEETS DURING THIS INTERVIEW. IT IS REALLY STARTING TO GET TO ME.
FABER: CARL TWEETS WITH HIS FEET. THAT'S REALLY WHAT GOES ON.
QUINTANILLA: DICK, CONGRATULATIONS.
COSTOLO: THANKS VERY MUCH. THANKS FOR HAVING ME.
QUINTANILLA: DICK COSTOLO, THE CEO OF TWITTER.
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