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I don't think it was a conscious pivot, but what started as a casual acquisition/turnaround idea with some spicy culture-war potential is now entirely a vehicle for politics. A sort of de facto third political party rather than a business.
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There are 2 things to know about the mindset difference between PE turnaround guys and startup guys. 1. Old distressed industries are at or near the commoditization stage. 2. They generally feature sclerosis equilibrium that requires a holy war to disrupt, not innovation.
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The "first principles" thinking shtick is actually "commoditization stage thinking." When an industry is very mature, governing laws at all stack levels and the causal path from math/physics to economic value are very clear and legible. That's why PE types are more excel-driven.
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Ordinary PE turnaround types stop there: go in with full control, and with extreme aggression and prejudice, clean up shop driven by unsentimental spreadsheets and an eye not on LTV but on *residual harvestable value* (RHV) because the turnaround is usually endgame-prep.
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But the higher-level operators bring more than mere aggression and prejudice. They bring a kind of ideological holy war mental model about the potential for cleanup/renewal/rebirth.
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This is a powerful and good thing on occasion. Holy warriors in the right place at the right time can reanimate zombies, and turn what looks like a harvesting endgame into a whole new game. It's an infinite-game-reboot mindset.
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But twitter violates the PE-holy-warrior playbook necessary conditions in 2 ways. 1. It's a people-as-product business, and people don't "commoditize" except when doing machine-like labor ripe for automation. 2. It is unclear if Twitter (age: 15) is old enough for holy war
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Re: 1, this is why there are no "first principles thinking" ways to orient in a true people business. The only first principle with people is to relate to them as people, not fungible objects (Buber I-you vs. I-it relations).
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