Jack Dorsey, executive director of Twitter and Square, talked with us before his performance at the weekly lunch at YCombinator

What can the world look like in 10 years?

It is clear that all the technologies that make our world feel small and fairly close really excite me. It's amazing how far we have come - over the past six years, I have developed a much deeper understanding of life in Iran thanks to the observations of how people act on the net, confronting the government and the rural population of Iran, which is of great importance. Technology allows people who remain fairly limited in their abilities to act globally.

The software will also continue to invade the world of real things. What is happening around virtual reality is simply amazing. Minimizing elementary objects is what I think we will continue to see for the next ten years. And what is interesting - I would prefer to have less real things.

What is the most helpful advice you've ever received?

Pay more attention to relationships between people, not just individuals. We often think about the professional qualities of the people recruited, but we do not sufficiently evaluate how they affect teamwork — strengthen or weaken it. But relationships created by people are the basis for the functioning of any company. If team relationships are strong, then this makes it better than every single person in the team. Otherwise, everything goes with braking.
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I made a mistake several times when I didn’t understand that some person had a bad influence on team relations, and didn’t part quickly with such an employee. It’s really hard to dismiss someone in all respects, but sometimes you have to do it, and when you understand the positive side of such an action, it helps to get through some pain.

How have you changed in ten years?

I am much more focused on the present. I think that we were more focused on the future instead of just doing what was before my eyes, and I think that technology plays a certain role in this. I admire how we can influence our realities, based on what and how we think about things.

To live with a sense of aspiration towards the future or constant gazing into the past, not paying attention to the present is in fact pernicious. My business is doing better if I am more focused on what is in front of me at the moment. My business is better if I really do the present and don’t think too much about the future. Living more in the present and more aware of oneself is one of the most difficult things we all face.

If you didn’t work on Twitter and Square, where would you work?

I love the development tools, so I would work on a tool that would help people do more than they could do without it. Mental health is also really interesting, especially because there are so many things we don’t know. I am interested in everything related to thinking and I believe that we are doing artificial intelligence and machine learning, aimed at a better understanding of ourselves. In the end, I think that all these things as a mirror show us ourselves and our values.

Which book influenced you the most?

"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway.
I keep coming back to her. I love her honesty, conciseness and poetry. In my opinion, it shows a universal struggle that repeats over and over in many narratives, both about fictional events and real ones.

"Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman.
I love poetry. Poetry is akin to programming - it materializes extremely abstract concepts into some kind of environment that allows interpretation. This creation can be his own man and give him better, more creative answers to the questions that are born of life. Actually, I am interested in everything that helps us to see ourselves at least a little more.

Whitman is also an interesting personality, a bright entrepreneur. He himself produced 35,000 copies of Leaves of Grass. The book was published during the Civil War, and it was sharp, asking many questions. She considered racial, sexual, gender equality - all at once! And Whitman did it until the end of his life — he added, edited, released new editions. Most people read the last option, but I think the first option is actually the best.

The impact of each line in this poem, as in any outstanding program, is overwhelming.

What would you say to yourself today - very young?

Weigh, ponder, match - look for balance. When I was young, I did not understand the value of exercise or health and how it affected my intellect. I think it was useful for me to try all the extremes in order to find the balance that I have now, but I wish that I didn’t focus more on being healthy. A healthier lifestyle ultimately makes me more creative and supports the integrity of thinking.