Jack Dorsey on the power of great storytelling

August 15, 2025

“One of the biggest things that has helped me [as CEO] is learning how to become a better storyteller.”

The co-founder of Twitter and Square explains:

“If you want to build a product that is relevant to folks, you need to put yourself in their shoes, and you need to write a story from their side.”

At Square, Jack explains, they spent a lot of time writing what they call “user narratives.” He gives an example:

“This person is in the middle of Chicago, and they go to a coffee store… Then this is the experience that they’re going to have. It reads like a play — it’s really beautiful.”

He continues:

“If you do that story well, then all the prioritization, product, design, and coordination that you need to do with these products just falls out naturally because everyone can relate to the story from all levels of the organization… And we want one epic, cohesive story that we tell the world.”