"Our mission is to make the world more open and connected."
Adam Rifkin stashed this in Zuck!
Stashed in: Facebook!, Advertising, Awesome, Startup Offices, @davidsze, @sherylsandberg, Montage
Zuck's IPO speech in this iconic photo shows he's a man of few words:
“I know this may seem like a big deal. But here’s the thing: our mission isn’t to be a public company. Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. All of you out there have built the largest community in the history of the world. You’ve done amazing things that we never would have dreamed of and I can’t wait to see what you’re going to be doing as we go forward. So on this special day, on behalf of everyone at Facebook, I just want to say to all the people out there who use our product, thank you.”
This is notable only in how much he stuck to the script.
I still wonder how he'll behave one day when he meets a juggernaut whose mission is to make Facebook more open and connected to things not owned by Facebook.
For now, all eyes on Facebook. And then... Back to work.
Underwhelming: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/18/underwhelming-scene-outside-facebook-h/
Meanwhile, Zynga is cratering: http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/18/zynga-share-price-facebook-ipo/
@davidsze talked with Forbes about the moment:
“People were milling around in the middle of the square in anticipation,” David Sze said. “(COO) Sheryl (Sandberg) spoke a little bit. The (person from) Nasdaq spoke a little bit. Mark spoke. Then they opened the bell. Everyone cheered and celebrated for about 10 minutes. Then everyone went back to their offices and started working again. It’s a great milestone for the company. Wonderful congratulations to all of them. But one of the great things about Facebook is you don’t get to where they’ve gotten and get where they’re going to go without being really focused.”
See also my Quora answer to: How did Mark Zuckerberg retain 26 of equity after so many rounds of financing?
And this Quora answer has price-to-revenues of each round:
2004: 166x. Seed. 1st ads in May generated ~$2,400 revenue. In June, Thiel invests at $5M valuation.
2005: 17x. A. $6M rev at a $100m valuation
2006: 10x. B. $52M run rate on $525 pre money
2007: 100x. C. $150M revenue at $15B valuation
2009: 13x. D. ($750M revenue at $10B valuation
2010: 17x. E. ($2b revenue at $35B valuation)
2011: 30x. F ($3.3B run rate on a $100B valuation)
2012: 23x. IPO $4.2B revenue on $100B IPO valuation)
This faux letter from Zuck is right on. [Original source.]
Dear Potential Investor:
For years, you’ve wasted your time on Facebook. Now here’s your chance to waste your money on it, too.
Tomorrow is Facebook’s IPO, and I know what some of you are thinking. How will Facebook be any different from the dot-com bubble of the early 2000’s?
For one thing, those bad dot-com stocks were all speculation and hype, and weren’t based on real businesses. Facebook, on the other hand, is based on a solid foundation of angry birds and imaginary sheep.
Second, Facebook is the most successful social network in the world, enabling millions to share information of no interest with people they barely know.
Third, every time someone clicks on a Facebook ad, Facebook makes money. And while no one has ever done this on purpose, millions have done it by mistake while drunk. We totally stole this idea from iTunes.
Finally, if you invest in Facebook, you’ll be far from alone. As a result of using Facebook for the past few years, over 900 million people in the world have suffered mild to moderate brain damage, impairing their ability to make reasoned judgments. These will be your fellow Facebook investors.
With your help, if all goes as planned tomorrow, Facebook’s IPO will net $100 billion. To put that number in context, it would take JP Morgan four or five trades to lose that much money.
One last thing: what will, I, Mark Zuckerberg, do with the $18 billion I’m expected to earn from Facebook’s IPO? Well, I’m considering buying Greece, but that would still leave me with $18 billion. LOL.
Friend me,
Mark
TROLOLOLOL
Zing, Zap, Pow, Kerblam!
You liked the line about angry birds and throwing sheep too, didn't you?
So, here's the thing. I've never ever found value in Facebook.
I'd like to think I'm a pretty social guy. In fact, I think I'm an extremely social guy. I don't find value in Facebook. Maybe, I just don't "get" it. I've tried. I don't.
And, the consequences of amassing all that personal information online in one walled garden makes me wear not only my tin foil hat, but my tin foil undies as well.
And, Facebook just brings back too many memories of how "sexy" AOL used to be. Anyone who was anyone was on AOL. Now... With the sheep and the bird throwing.
So, I said it. I'm an old fart Facebook hater. Now get off my lawn ya damn kids!
Lololololz...
You're not the first to say it, and you're not the last.
Facebook is not for everyone.
Most people who do use it, use it for chat and photo sharing.
What's funny is, that's what most websites are for: Blogs, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.
All Facebook is, is the biggest one.
You clearly have other places to chat and share photos.
Nothing wrong with that.
10:00 AM May 18 2012