Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

 

 

Early Twitter Employees to Miss Out on Millions

 

 

As Twitter prepares for its IPO, some of the company's earliest employees will become instant millionaires -- even billionaires.

But not all members of Twitter's founding team will cash in. Like many Silicon Valley startups in their infancy, Twitter's original team changed quickly. Ideas evolved, and some of the people who played an integral part in the early days soon found that they were no longer needed.

"Your position has been eliminated": Such was the case for Dom Sagolla, or @Dom, the ninth Twitter user and one of the original employees at the social network.

In 2006, Sagolla was head of quality at Odeo, the podcasting company that would eventually spin off into Twitter. As Odeo grew rapidly, Sagolla's role grew more important. But when Apple decided to launch podcasting in iTunes in 2005, Odeo knew it was in trouble. The company decided to reinvent itself.

The employees at Odeo decided to hold a hackathon, an event where everyone splits into teams and comes up with new ideas. Jack Dorsey created the idea for what would eventually become Twitter. He teamed up with Sagolla and German engineer Florian Weber to pitch it to the Odeo crew. The idea was a hit. Odeo co-founder Noah Glass joined in four days later.

But Sagolla's role in Twitter was short-lived. Twitter's other co-founders took him for a walk in a San Francisco park. They told Sagolla they were eliminating his position.

"It was clear that they were just cutting headcount," Sagolla told CNNMoney. Sagolla was one of four people who lost their jobs that day.

Though he potentially lost out on a fortune, Sagolla is good-natured about his dismissal.

"I call it my billion dollar MBA, because I got nothing," he joked. "I don't know what I would have deserved. If I had stuck around and contributed more maybe I could feel like I deserved more."

Since being let go, Sagolla worked at Adobe and set up an iPhone developer camp.

Can't get a visa: Weber, or @florian, stuck around for a bit longer. He played an integral role in Odeo's transition to Twitter, and, along with Dorsey, Weber built the first prototype of Twitter.

"I still remember the time Jack and I were sitting in the conference room at Twitter and discussing the concept of 'following,' whether it implies obedience," Weber told CNNMoney.