Facebook lessons to learn
ENTREPRENEUR GUIDANCE:
Facebook Inc (FB) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the man of the hour at the Wall Street. The techie CEO of the social networking giant, which has a social community of over 900 million, is the hot topic of discussions. His strategies and executions have been filled with controversies but yielded success. That makes him the head of internet’s largest listed company on the NASDAQ. Irrespective of the vicissitudes on the first day of trading, May 18, the company is sure to make progress in the near future. This only goes on to prove that `DISCIPLINED WORK LEADS TO LONG-TERM SUPREMACY.’ Following the rules well defined by stalwarts helps you reach the objectives.
In a recent interview, the CEO has given his first hand tools that have envisaged his position to what he is today. They are quoted below, for enriching the readers:
1) Don’t think short term: FB had a buyout option in 2006 from Yahoo. But later it backfired. `Do not sell out if you think the business can grow. Don’t sell out just because the money seems too good now.’ The hindsight analysis is `may be you are destined for more.’
2) Keep your grip strong: He was phenomenal in keeping the venture capitalists at bay in the beginnings. However, he managed to garner less known maiden investors. These people never disturbed him in day-to-day governance in the company, giving him a free hand. The strategy paid off: unlike most founders, Zuckerberg owns 57% voting shares at the time of the IPO.
3) Bet on yourself: FB is surely a one man show, from idea to conceptualization it was Zuckerberg’s vision all the way.
4) Screw convention: Initially he believed in the conviction of being proud of his entity, this lead to followers who also stuck to his example. His philosophy is to get things done, without bothering about tradition.
5) Accept what you are bad at: Zuckerberg never considered himself as super hero. Hence he built a team of stalwarts for various operations from successful backgrounds. This made the giant look well structured.
6) Keep shaking things up: Be it the Photos and video in 2005, News Feed in 2006, new Home Page in 2008 or Timeline in 2011, FB’s inclination was sure to enhance subscriber experience. Be ready for a 360 degrees work out to lure new and retain the old.
7) Bring the stars home: While dealing with building a team bring the best hands if you could afford. The result is FB boasts of some stalwarts in the segment like, David Ebersman, ex CFO at Genentech, Bret Taylor, founder of Google Maps, Matt Papakipos, engineering director behind Google’s Chrome OS and Marne Levine, former chief of staff of the National Economic Council.
8) Stick to your guns: Inspite of controversy have a conviction for what you decide, always weigh your decision before. In 2011 FB known for its privacy, introduced Tag Suggestions, facial recognition software that identified people in uploaded photos. Controversies sprang up, imagine what Zuckerberg’s response was? Not an apology but a declaration that the age of privacy was over!!
Way2World urges upcoming enterprises and innovating start-ups to follow the ideology of the successful in your terms for bettering the prospects. This will lead to making your opportunities successful enterprises and that would make you a brand equity.