Twitter Whistleblower’s Claims Lay Bare One of Silicon Valley’s Open Secrets

The Twitter whistleblower’s complaint exposes a long-whispered claim: Twitter is poorly run.

Let’s start.

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1. A Twitter whistleblower just confirmed one of Silicon Valley’s open secrets. In an 84-page whistleblower complaint, Twitter’s former head of security, who will also now testify in the Senate about his allegations, laid bare a long-whispered statement: Twitter is mismanaged.

• Twitter has a reputation for being poorly run, and that allegation stems in part from co-founder Jack Dorsey, who is reportedly known for absenteeism and indecisiveness.
• In his complaint, ex-Twitter security chief Peter Zatko added to that characterization, describing Dorsey as “distracted” and “out of control” (Dorsey was ousted as CEO in 2008, reportedly due to too much time spent on fashion design classes and yoga classes). .
• But Zatko also laid the blame on the company for operating in such a mess, and accused new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal of forcing him to produce misleading documents that smoothed over the company’s security flaws.

Read our full analysis here.

In other news:

2. Amazon’s pharmacy business is struggling to gain momentum. Even the company’s most active shoppers were slow to use the company’s online recipe service, with only 2% citing it as a reason they have an Amazon Prime membership. Why Amazon’s Pharmacy Business Is Barely Registered by Customers.

3. We took a look at the Salvo Health presentation that was used to create the “super-giant” seed round. Foursquare, Compass and Seamless executives have created a chronic bowel disease startup that just raised $10.5 million in a seed round led by Threshold Ventures. Get an exclusive look at the presentation they used to attract investors and browse our library of presentations.

4. You can now buy a Peloton bike on Amazon. Previously, Peloton fans could only buy directly through the company. But thanks to a massive new deal with a fitness company, customers can now order a bike from Amazon and assemble it themselves. More about it here.

5. The Vice President’s salary was revealed in Shane Smith’s divorce. Court documents seen by Insider reveal Smith’s $1.6 million salary and stock stake, but their value is up in the air as the company pushes for the sale. Everything we learned from the documents.

6. New data reveals the top 20 employers business students want to work for the most. Employer branding expert Universum just released its 2022 company lists, with several big tech firms topping the list. From Apple to Google, this is where business students hope to get jobs.

7. These are the 27 most promising consumer startups of 2022. We asked leading venture capitalists to name the startups they think have the most potential. From a noisy social media company to a home-sharing market, here are their picks for up-and-coming consumer startups.

8. Amazon is shutting down Amazon Care, its ambitious primary health care service. Just three years after the service went public, Amazon chief Neil Lindsay announced that the service would be shutting down by the end of the year. Read the full internal memo he sent to the staff.

Chances and endings:

9. “Frupidity” is the new word circulating inside Amazon. The word combines “thrift,” one of Amazon’s 16 principles, and “stupidity” to describe what goes on inside Amazon, like an employee being forced to travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco for a corporate event. From “friendly” to “water spider,” here are 16 secret terms only Amazon employees know.

10. We’ve found the best to-do list apps for your phone. We’ve been looking for the best apps for Android and iPhone, both free and paid, to help you organize your to-do list. Check out our top seven picks.

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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or advice? Email [email protected] or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) In London.