Here's an interesting piece of startup history that many may not be aware of: Google was responsible for developing the initial versions of popular Android apps, including Twitter. This revelation came to light in a recent podcast featuring Sara Beykpour, Twitter's former senior director of product management and now co-founder of the AI news startup Particle.

In the podcast hosted by Lightspeed partner Michael Mignano, Beykpour reflected on her journey at Twitter, where she began as a tools engineer in 2009 when the company had only about 75 employees. She later transitioned to the mobile team at a time when third-party apps were becoming increasingly popular on platforms like BlackBerry and iOS. Notably, Loren Brichter's Tweetie was acquired by Twitter and served as the foundation for its first official iOS app.

Regarding Twitter’s Android app, Beykpour noted that it originated from Google. She explained, “The Twitter for Android client was a demo app that Google had created and gave to us.” Beykpour mentioned that Google did this with several popular social apps at the time, such as Foursquare, resulting in a similar appearance for these early applications because Google developed them all.

Mignano asked for clarification, “Wait, so back up; explain this. So Google wanted companies to adopt Android, so they built you apps?” To which Beykpour confirmed, “Yes, exactly.” Twitter then took the Android app created by Google and further developed it, with Beykpour becoming the second Android engineer at the company.

In fact, Google had outlined its efforts on the Android Twitter client in a 2010 blog post, yet much of the media coverage at the time overlooked Google's involvement, rendering this a forgotten piece of internet history. In the post, Google explained how it incorporated early Android best practices into the Twitter app. Beykpour revealed to TechCrunch that Virgil Dobjanschi was the main software engineer behind the post, adding, “If we had questions, we were supposed to ask him.”

Beykpour also shared additional stories from Twitter's early days. For instance, she worked on Twitter's video app, Vine, after returning to the company from a stint at Secret. Under pressure to launch Vine on Android before Instagram's video product, she managed to release Vine about two weeks ahead of Instagram Video. This timing “significantly” impacted Vine's user numbers and, in Beykpour's view, was a key factor in the app's eventual decline.

“That was the day the writing was on the wall,” she reflected, despite it taking years for Vine to be shut down.

At Twitter, Beykpour played a pivotal role in the decision to discontinue Vine, an app still fondly remembered, to the extent that even Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter/X, has hinted at a potential revival. However, Beykpour believes that shutting down Vine was the right move, as the app was not growing and was costly to maintain. She acknowledges that some might argue Vine lacked resources or sufficient leadership support, but ultimately, the decision was based on its impact on Twitter's financial performance.

Beykpour also recounted an interesting experience with Periscope. She joined the startup just as it was being acquired by Twitter, and after leaving Secret, she had to rejoin Twitter under a pseudonym to keep the acquisition confidential for a while.

While at Twitter, she discussed the challenges in securing resources to develop products for power users, such as journalists. “Twitter really struggled to define its user,” she stated, as it relied on traditional OKRs and metrics. She noted that “only a fraction of people tweet,” and among those who do, only a subset generates the content that the broader audience wants to see—something that proved difficult to quantify.

Now at Particle, Beykpour is applying her Twitter experience to shape the strategy for the AI news app, which aims to connect users with the news that matters to them. “Particle is a reimagining of how you intake your daily news,” she explained in the podcast. The app seeks to offer a multi-perspective view of news while ensuring access to high-quality journalism. The startup is also exploring alternative monetization strategies beyond ads, subscriptions, or micropayments, though specifics are still under discussion. Particle is currently engaging with potential publisher partners to determine how to fairly compensate them for their work.