Facebook's founding is legend: In a Harvard dorm, wunderkind
Mark Zuckerberg invented a new way to connect with friends...and the
rest is history. But for the people who actually molded this great idea
into a game-changing $300 billion company, the experience was far more
tumultuous and uncertain than we might expect.
Mike Hoefflinger was one of those Facebook insiders. As a computer engineer turned marketing innovator who worked with COO Sheryl Sandberg, Hoefflinger had a front-row seat to the company's growing pains, stumbles, and reinventions. In his new book, BECOMING FACEBOOK: The 10 Challenges That Defined the Company That's Disrupting the World, Hoefflinger tells Facebook's coming-of-age saga from the perspective of a keen observer and key contributor.
Today I'm sharing one of my favorite excerpts from Mike's new book that talks about the 4 core lessons you need to know before building a business:
1. Know whether this is your next thing or your last thing.
In its early years, Facebook attracted acquisition offers from suitors including Viacom, AOL, and Google. The most talked-about was Yahoo's 2006 offer of a reported $1 billion. Why did Mark Zuckerberg, at age 22, turn it down? He had a mission and confidence in his ability to grow Facebook into a thriving public company to achieve it. Rather than snap up the opportunity to be acquired, Zuckerberg charted a 10-year-and-beyond course to make the world more open and connected. Thought Starter: Are you building a feature, a product, or a mission?
2. Add by subtracting.
In September 2008, Facebook launched News Feed, a feature to make it easier for users to see what was going on across their connections. In the decade since, Facebook has been vigilant about monitoring News Feed -- and fine-tuning its all-important algorithm -- to continually increase the perceived quality of this "personal newspaper" for each unique user. With screens connecting everyone to everyone and everything all the time, customers' biggest need is not for more things but for fewer things that matter more. Thought Starter: What part of the world are you making easier for your customers to digest?
Content Credit: https://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/how-to-build-your-business-like-facebook.html
Mike Hoefflinger was one of those Facebook insiders. As a computer engineer turned marketing innovator who worked with COO Sheryl Sandberg, Hoefflinger had a front-row seat to the company's growing pains, stumbles, and reinventions. In his new book, BECOMING FACEBOOK: The 10 Challenges That Defined the Company That's Disrupting the World, Hoefflinger tells Facebook's coming-of-age saga from the perspective of a keen observer and key contributor.
Today I'm sharing one of my favorite excerpts from Mike's new book that talks about the 4 core lessons you need to know before building a business:
1. Know whether this is your next thing or your last thing.
In its early years, Facebook attracted acquisition offers from suitors including Viacom, AOL, and Google. The most talked-about was Yahoo's 2006 offer of a reported $1 billion. Why did Mark Zuckerberg, at age 22, turn it down? He had a mission and confidence in his ability to grow Facebook into a thriving public company to achieve it. Rather than snap up the opportunity to be acquired, Zuckerberg charted a 10-year-and-beyond course to make the world more open and connected. Thought Starter: Are you building a feature, a product, or a mission?
2. Add by subtracting.
In September 2008, Facebook launched News Feed, a feature to make it easier for users to see what was going on across their connections. In the decade since, Facebook has been vigilant about monitoring News Feed -- and fine-tuning its all-important algorithm -- to continually increase the perceived quality of this "personal newspaper" for each unique user. With screens connecting everyone to everyone and everything all the time, customers' biggest need is not for more things but for fewer things that matter more. Thought Starter: What part of the world are you making easier for your customers to digest?
Content Credit: https://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/how-to-build-your-business-like-facebook.html
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