#800: Ev Williams — The Art of Pivoting (e.g., Odeo to Twitter), Strategic Quitting, The Dangers of Premature Scaling, Must-Read Books, and More

Ev Williams is the co-founder of
Mozi, a new social network that helps you
connect in person with the people you care about. Over the past
25 years, Ev has co-founded several companies that have helped
shape the modern internet—including Blogger, Medium, and Twitter.
This episode was recorded live at Diggnation, where
digg.com was relaunched. Go to
digg.com and sign up to get early access when
invites go out.


Sponsors:


David Protein Bars 28g of protein, 150
calories, and 0g of sugar:
https://davidprotein.com/tim (Buy 4
cartons, get the 5th free.)


Sundays for Dogs ultra-high-quality
dog
food: https://sundaysfordogs.com/tim (save
50% on your first order)


Wealthfront high-yield cash
account: https://Wealthfront.com/Tim (Start
earning 3.75% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) from program banks on
your short-term cash until you’re ready to invest. And when new
clients open an account, they can get an extra fifty-dollar
bonus with a deposit of five hundred dollars or more.)
Terms & Conditions apply. The APY on cash deposits as of
09/26/25 is representative, subject to change, and requires no
minimum. Tim Ferriss receives cash compensation from
Wealthfront Brokerage LLC for advertising and holds a
non-controlling equity interest in the corporate parent of
Wealthfront Brokerage. See full disclosures here.


Timestamps:


[00:00:00] Start


[00:05:35] Kevin Rose starts the party like it's 2004.


[00:07:27] Ev's first internet product.


[00:08:54] How technology became social for Ev.


[00:10:52] The simple idea behind Mozi.


[00:12:05] Strategic quitting vs. sunk-cost perseverance.


[00:18:36] How Odeo begat Twitter.


[00:22:01] Twitter's $11,000 SXSW 2007 inflection point.


[00:23:45] Ev's hopes for Mozi's evolution.


[00:25:02] Favorite books and information inputs.


[00:30:45] Raising a generation to co-exist with AI.


[00:33:12] Ev's billboard.


[00:35:56] How Ev learned to manage his feelings.


[00:37:16] Facing strangers as an introvert with the Hoffman
Process.


[00:39:57] Recently adopted habits that have galvanized positive
change.


[00:42:44] The silver lining of being fired from Twitter.


[00:45:18] Contemplating how the universe works with The One by
Heinrich Päs.


[00:47:04] How Ev stocks his reading list arsenal.


[00:50:26] Big thoughts on a Medium regret.


[00:52:47] Resisting the urge to bloat Mozi with superfluous
features.


[00:55:40] How Mozi balances privacy with utility.


[00:57:40] Parting thoughts.


See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California
Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.