Twitter Co-Founder Joins Haas As Fellow

Serial entrepreneur and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has joined Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley as an executive fellow. In this role, Stone will share his experiences as an entrepreneur with the faculty and students.

Haas has had the executive fellow position – a part-time, professional faculty position – since 2007. Stone will be the fourth executive fellow at the school after IDEO general manager Tom Kelley; John Hanke, vice-president for product development for Google Maps, Local, and Earth; and former Chevron CFO Steve Crowe. As executive fellows executives advise the dean and faculty, and share their ideas and experiences with students.

“Biz is an innovative business leader who takes the larger view of his business and his role there. He takes the long-term perspective on creating value – things Haas tries to instill in its budding business leaders,” said a Haas spokesperson in an email. “For example, having founded Twitter, Biz and his partners were not in a rush to monetize the platform, allowing it instead to grow. And grow it did, beyond anyone’s expectations, into worldwide communications platforms that has had tremendous impact on politics, business, even journalism, and of course countless of personal lives.”

Stone, who was introduced to the new MBA class at Haas by senior assistant dean Jay Stowsky last week, talked about the need to create value before profit, being willing to take risk and fail spectacularly if you want to succeed spectacularly, and about pursuing things you’re passionate about. One of his key messages was that there is a “compound interest” in helping others (in other words: the sooner you start, the more impact you will have). That’s a principle he has built into Twitter as well as his personal life.

Stone is not new to Haas. He welcomed the MBA students at orientation in 2010, spoke at the digital media conference in 2008 and participated in the All-Alumni Reunion Conference in 2009. Dean Rich Lyons said in a press release, “We are excited to welcome Biz back to our campus as an executive fellow. In the spirit of developing innovative leaders here at Berkeley-Haas, we welcome Biz’s experience in creating and sustaining an environment at Twitter in which so much innovation takes place continually. Biz not only represents entrepreneurial leadership but exemplifies the enormous impact people can have when they take a risk and delve into unexplored territory. And Biz continues to find channels for even greater positive impact.”

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