Sacca: Why Twitter’s Growth has “Failed”

One of Twitter (NYSE:TWTR)’s earliest investors, Chris Sacca, did not hold back in his 8,500 word explanation of what he thinks the company needs to do in order to maximize its potential. The missive, entitled “What Twitter Can Be,” was posted just hours before the company’s annual investor meeting.

“Twitter has failed to meet its own stated user growth expectations and has not been able to take advantage of the massive number of users who have signed up for accounts and then not come back,” Sacca griped, adding that “almost one billion users have tried Twitter and not stuck around.”

Despite its impressive 302 million monthly active users, Sacca said that too many more find the service to be “hard to use” or even “scary” and “lonely.”

Sacca, who does not name CEO Dick Costolo in the lengthy note, acknowledged that “Wall Street’s confidence in the management team has diminished.” Twitter shares are down 22% in the past three months and closed Wednesday at $37, “well below its IPO closing day price” of $45, as Sacca points out.

Moreover, “shortcomings in the direct response advertising category have resulted in the company coming in below the financial community’s quarterly estimates,” said Sacca, alluding to Twitter’s recent earnings miss.

Providing a detailed explanation of what he thinks the social media service can do to be more engaging and make interesting tweets easier to find, Sacca said that overall the company could be “bolder” and should make it “easier for all to participate.”

Although activist investors like Carl Icahn are becoming more vocal these days, it is still unusual for venture capitalists to  publicly critique companies that they have invested in. Sacca maintains that he is “not an activist investor” and he’s doing this because he genuinely wants the best for the company.

“I believe Twitter can be so much more than it is today,” said Sacca.