Ex-CEO Twitter Dick Costelo Makes 'Silicon Valley' On-Screen Appearance
After a six-year stint with Twitter, first as its chief operating officer from 2009 to 2010 and, after that, as chief executive officer, from 2010 to 15, 52-year-old Dick Costolo broke away from his career and went briefly into show business, more specifically in the television industry, as a consultant on the hit television series on HBO, "Silicon Valley."
The series found itself traveling the story arch of a CEO, Richard Hendricks, from a fictional 'tech' company, who finds himself out of a job after being ousted from the top position in a company he helped found, in this case, Pied Piper. It sounds pretty much like what happened in real life to Costolo, except the comparison ends there because Costolo chose to step down from the position whereas, in the show, Hendricks was ultimately offered a demotion.
Producers and showrunners on the show, including Alec Berg and Mike Judge, wanted to keep the show's story as close to reality as possible and so needed an opinion from someone who had lived the part, at the very least someone with the background, in order to decide how to proceed with what was their next season on the show.
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Fortunately for both parties, Costolo had been willing and available at the time, his resignation from Twitter coinciding closely with the availability of "Silicon Valley" writer's room seat and his earlier background as an improv artist making him a perfect candidate, not to mention his long-time admiration for the show priming him for the role.
Costolo also talks about his love for the show and how he would 'binge-watch' it during his flights.
"They did such a great job … capturing some of the absurdities and the tone of voice of the way things are dealt with and the kind of nonsense that entrepreneurs have to go through in doing things like raising money. So I loved that about it."
Berg, who is a co-showrunner on the show, also speaks of Costolo to The Hollywood Reporter, "He's a funny guy who appreciates comedy, and I think he had a fondness for our story, so he just offered. He would come down and sit in our writers' room on Mondays and Tuesdays and was super helpful."
The "Seinfeld" wordsmith shared that the process of consulting an expert is sometimes a time-consuming necessity.
"Well, what about this idea? Alright, let's call the consultant. Let's see if he could get in touch with somebody who could tell us whether that could actually happen or not."
The show's co-showrunner tells of how much easier it made the process by having Costolo on board with the project, "… when you have a guy like that in the room as you're talking about it, you'd go, 'Could this happen?'"
And then and there, any question was answered, and things got done pretty fast. Berg also told of Costolo's insight into how a tech company would treat a certain situation, from its engineers to its shareholders, as well as "the forces at work in a board meeting."
But when the ex-CEO was asked whether he would remain involved in the show moving forward, he responds that he does not have an inkling and that he preferred to be on the creative side of the media world because it was something I used to do, and it's something I love to do and I had a ball doing Silicon Valley."
At another venue, in related news, it was revealed at the "Silicon Valley" season three premiere Sunday, during the Q&A session at the conclusion of the film's premiere showing, that Costolo will be making an appearance in season three of the series.
Costolo now works as a Venture Partner at Index Ventures. He is also CEO and co-founder of a new company which is blazing a new trail in the personal fitness avenue.
