The Birth of Twitter
In 2006, podcasting company Odeo was struggling. Apple had just entered their market with iTunes podcasting, and the company needed a new direction. During a brainstorming session, Jack Dorsey proposed a simple idea: a service where people could share short status updates via SMS.
The concept was inspired by how instant messaging status updates worked - but for a broader audience. "What are you doing?" would be the central question.
The team decided to build a prototype as a side project. They gave themselves just two weeks to see if the idea had merit.
The MVP: Status Updates via SMS
Twitter's first version was incredibly simple - almost absurdly so by today's standards. Here's what it included:
The Original Twitter MVP Features:
-
Send a text message to 40404 with your status
-
Maximum 140 characters (SMS limit was 160, leaving room for username)
-
Your status would be sent to all your followers via SMS
-
A simple web page showing the timeline of updates
-
Follow/unfollow functionality
-
That's it. No images, no videos, no hashtags, no @mentions
The First Tweet Ever
"just setting up my twttr"— Jack Dorsey, March 21, 2006, 12:50 PM
Start Your MVP Journey Today
Like Twitter, start with extreme simplicity. Your MVP doesn't need to be complex - it needs to solve one problem exceptionally well.