Last week I finished The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich. It sounded interesting, and I really liked his other book, Bringing Down the House.
Mezrich tells the story of how Facebook got its start, from a Harvard dorm-room operation in early 2004, to the world’s largest social networking site with over 300 million members. His narrative is compelling enough, but it lacks real teeth because the principal founder, Mark Zuckerberg, did not agree to an interview for the book. It would be like trying to tell the story of Microsoft without Bill Gates, or of Apple without Steve Jobs. It can be done, but could probably be done more accurately with their input. In fact, the source Mezrich relies on most heavily is Eduardo Saverin, a Facebook co-founder who was ousted — unfairly in his opinion — from the company just as it was blowing up.
Still, Billionaires is labeled non-fiction. Zuckerberg is portrayed as an aloof, socially awkward, and eccentric genius. He wasn’t out to make a fortune, just to build something cool that people liked. He built the initial, Harvard-only version of Facebook in just two weeks, and just 14 months later, achieved a valuation of $100 million. Facebook was his baby, and now is part of the daily routine for millions of people around the world. It has helped fundamentally change the way we communicate and interact with other people. At one point, the company was valued at $15 Billion, making Zuckerberg, not yet 26 years old, the youngest self-made billionaire in history.
What I liked reading about was the stories of venture capitalists crashing lectures at Harvard trying to get some facetime with Zuckerberg, the rapid viral growth of the site, and how exciting it must have been to be a part of, on the cutting edge of something really revolutionary. And like any financial rocketship, there were people, Eduardo and others, trying to hang on and not get burned. If you’re into Facebook and start-ups, its an interesting read.
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Tags: Entrepreneurship
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