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Why FaceBook?

by Scott Ames
5 replies
More a philosophical discussion rather than a technical one, but why do you think a 26 year old was able to slap up a website, have it go viral, and become a multi-billionaire within just a few years?

After all, we have top marketing gurus, famous actors, CEO's of Fortune 100 companies, etc., that have not made that much money in their whole lives and a lot of them were really trying hard. Some actually became billionaires, but after years and years and not still equal to Mark's fortune. Donald Trump or Mark Cuban come to mind. They have about 2 and 5 billion, but not $17 to 30 billion.

When he started TheFaceBook we already had MySpace which was the big cheese. I'm sure in the beginning they didn't worry about a college kid that started a site.

How does a 26 year old have the savvy to make it happen?
#facebook #myspace
  • Profile picture of the author LABEShops
    Like many successful ventures, I think his timing and his target market was right. Remember Facebook started out as a way for college students to connect, study, etc. at a time when college students were becoming more and more tech saavy and technology was growing rapidly. Once students connected, their parents found out about FB as a way to connect to their children who were away from home for the first time driving more and more adults to the network. Myspace didn't have the college angle working for it and was trying to be everything to everyone (which eventually Facebook did better and overtook them).
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  • Profile picture of the author StanHyeck
    He started small, filled a need and in a way that MySpace wasn't, found out what the gripes were with MySpace and made sure not to have the same major issues. Then he scaled slowly.

    Only Harvard active students ... then you had to go to Harvard ... then Ivy League colleges ... then any college ... then anyone.

    And keep in mind that he didn't make a single cent for A LONG TIME on top of it. In fact he spent quite a lot of money on facebook before he ever saw any of it back.

    I doubt too many of us would want to dump a few hundred thousand down the drain for 5 years on the hope that it'll succeed in the same way Zuckerburg did.
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    • Profile picture of the author Wealthyclark
      Originally Posted by StanHyeck View Post

      And keep in mind that he didn't make a single cent for A LONG TIME on top of it. In fact he spent quite a lot of money on facebook before he ever saw any of it back.

      I doubt too many of us would want to dump a few hundred thousand down the drain for 5 years on the hope that it'll succeed in the same way Zuckerburg did.
      Stan hit the nail on the head. There's a ton of great products and services that could be Hugh hits but they aren't getting the attention necessary and most never will because it takes money to reach these levels. It doesn't matter how great the product is, if people don't know it exist it won't work. The owners either don't have the funds to properly spread the word or they aren't confident enough to spend the funds.

      Wishing you all much success,
      WealthyClark
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  • Profile picture of the author darkc0de1
    I think Mark just got the concept how to a REAL connection to people.

    "REAL Connection"? You know what that means. Compare the features of MySpace and Facebook in the past 3-4 years ?

    So again, I think mark just got the perfect idea to connect people. With that, he won a price. "Billions"
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    • Profile picture of the author Wealthyclark
      Originally Posted by darkc0de1 View Post

      So again, I think mark just got the perfect idea to connect people. With that, he won a price. "Billions"
      I agree that he had a great idea but there's more to it than that. Even a perfect product needs proper exposure to make it to the great level of Facebook, otherwise people would have never known that it even existed.

      I believe the real key is a great product combined with great exposure.
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