Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Twitter has acquired startup Yes, Inc. and is making its CEO head of product

Keith Coleman will fill a job that has been vacant for six months.

LinkedIn

Twitter has a new VP of product: Keith Coleman, CEO of Yes, Inc., a consumer mobile app startup that Twitter has acquired, the company announced Thursday.

Coleman and Yes’ six other employees are all joining Twitter in product and design roles as part of the deal, and Coleman will take over the day-to-day leadership of “Bluebird,” the core Twitter app and service.

A Twitter spokesperson declined to comment on deal terms, but Yes is shutting down its two mobile apps — wyd, for sharing status updates (sounds familiar), and Frenzy for making plans with friends — so this is clearly a talent acquisition.

Coleman will take on what has become one of the toughest jobs in Silicon Valley — running Twitter’s core product, which is often held up as the main reason the company has struggled to grow its user base over the past two years. Many believe it’s too hard to use, especially for newcomers, plus there’s that whole abuse issue.

As a result, Twitter’s VP of product role has been a revolving door ever since its IPO in late 2013. It’s actually been vacant for the past six months. So bringing in Coleman was long overdue.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh