Jack Dorsey: One CEO, Two Publicly Traded Companies

Talk about a crazy role model.

Microblogging platform Twitter and mobile payments system Square are publicly traded companies managed by one person: Jack Dorsey  (opens in a new tab).

How does he do it? The companies aren’t exactly easy to manage, what with investors worrying about Twitter’s challenges in growing its audience  (opens in a new tab) and Square struggling to gain a foothold in a crowded payments industry  (opens in a new tab).

Dorsey plows through company-related demands by sticking to a rigorous and structured schedule that allows for only six hours of sleep a night, the Wall Street Journal reports  (opens in a new tab).

After his morning coffee (Blue Bottle all the way), Dorsey divides his time: Twitter in the morning, Square in the afternoon. Meetings are conducted during car rides, over the phone, or at company headquarters. Dorsey also tends to leave when his allotted time for a meeting ends, even if it’s still going.

It’s like this every day. Dorsey relies on meditation and exercise to help keep him grounded.

The situation isn’t unheard of: Steve Jobs managed both Apple and Pixar during the height of their respective successes. Dual management does force some compromises, however.

“A classic CEO should have his hands in everything: financials, operations, personnel,” Eric Flamholtz, a professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, told the Journal. (Dorsey knows this; he gets reports from the vital departments at both companies.)

But managers know that pressure is on to produce results and please investors. “The results will be apparent over the next few quarters,” Suhail Rizvi, an investor in both Square and Twitter, told the Journal through a spokesperson.

Wish him luck.

Tweet of the Day

https://twitter.com/StraterJeff/status/679660186345299968

With the holiday season nearly in full swing, out-of-office messages are keeping pace. (Here are some of the funniest  (opens in a new tab) HubSpot found.)

Email pileup can be overwhelming when getting back to work after a holiday vacation. Minda Zetlin at Inc. suggests ways  (opens in a new tab) to prepare for the deluge ahead of time.

More Links For Your Holidays

Things may be heating up in the messaging space. Google is reportedly crafting a messaging app that includes a feature with an artificial intelligence bot, the Wall Street Journal reports  (opens in a new tab). Look out, Facebook Messenger.

Have goals for the next year? Are they ambitious? Maybe you  should go “the extra inch instead of the extra mile,” Patrick Allan at Lifehacker writes.  (opens in a new tab) Read what he has to say about avoiding burnout while still aiming high.

Get into an innovative mindset for 2016. CMS Wire‘s Dom Nicastro highlights a few starting points for your own innovations  (opens in a new tab).

The team here at Associations Now wishes you a great holiday and a happy new year! See you in 2016!

Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey. (cellanr/Flickr)