Twitter's Next Move Under Interim CEO Jack Dorsey
— -- Twitter CEO Dick Costolo's decision to step down from his position, announced Thursday, comes as the social media network faces increased pressure to show investors it has a strategy for growth -- but don't expect any radical changes.
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, will step into his old role of CEO on an interim basis effective July 1 as Twitter's board searches for a permanent replacement.
While a leadership transition could infuse new energy into the company, Dorsey said in a call with investors on Thursday he doesn't "foresee any changes in strategy or direction."
With 302 million monthly active users, Twitter has tremendous reach but has lagged in attracting and retaining new users, who in turn entice businesses to advertise on Twitter and drive revenue.
"The opportunity is absolutely massive. The intention is to certainly bring it to everyone around the world," Dorsey said. "If we build a product people love and value, advertisers and users will follow."
Nate Elliott, a principal analyst at Forrester tweeted about the change, noting that Twitter must "innovate or become irrelevant."
It's something Costolo wanted investors to know Twitter was doing.
At its first ever "analyst day" conference last November, Costolo shared his vision for helping Twitter grow and find new ways to engage its audience.
Among the changes that have been introduced since then are a more seamless video experience within tweets, the ability to direct message multiple people and a "what you missed" feature to make sure users see the most relevant tweets.
An instant timeline feature has also been added for new users as a way to help them feel more engaged with Twitter from the start -- and to hopefully keep them coming back to the site.
Two new products, Fabric and Periscope, were also introduced this year. Dorsey said more products are in the pipeline for later this year and he does not anticipate any delays due to the leadership transition.
As a committee vets internal and external candidates for the top position, Dorsey said it's vital whoever takes the reins is "someone who uses and loves the product in every single way."
"Despite all we have accomplished, the company still has huge unmet potential," he said.
Twitter sought to give reassurance to shareholders in a statement that stressed the company's second quarter revenue outlook to be in the range of $470 million to $485 million.
