Back

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 𝗭𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟒. A 19-year-old Harvard student launches a simple website. It’s called 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. The idea? 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. The reality? 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. Users 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. Investors 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. And suddenly, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭. But there’s a problem. Zuckerberg isn’t the only one who thinks he owns Facebook. 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐨 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 – His co-founder, but 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 – Claim Zuckerberg 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚. 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 – Want control over key decisions. Zuckerberg sees the danger. 𝐈𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟱-𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴: 𝗭𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 One by one, 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬. • 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. His shares are reduced, and 𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭. • 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐞. They win a $65M settlement. Zuckerberg 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧. • 𝐘𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 $𝟏𝐁 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. Investors say 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲. Zuckerberg 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬. Because he knows: 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟴: 𝗭𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 Brings in 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 to help run the company. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 through ads—profits skyrocket. 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐲𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 and becomes the #1 social media platform. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗛𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐: Facebook 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 —worth $100B. 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒: Buys 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐀𝐩𝐩 & 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, securing the future. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏: Turns Facebook into 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐚, shaping the next internet era. Zuckerberg didn’t just 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 —he 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝟯 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗭𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗴’𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 1. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. – He refused to sell, even when billion-dollar deals were on the table. 2. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. – He cut out anyone 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. 3. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦. – While others looked for quick wins, 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. Most founders start companies. 𝐙𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐲. I hope you've enjoyed this. Follow Vishu Bheda for more such amazing business stories!