Disparate worlds

Last week Facebook went public.  I guess that was inevitable since it was one of the world's largest corporations.  However, Zuckerberg took the time to write his new investors that the original mission of the company was not to become a company.  He wrote a lengthy letter to his investors to let them know that his mission is the same as when he started Facebook even before it became a privately held company.  The very last portion of his letter is below.

He is right for his own company and he is right in the way the world is beginning to turn around, which is different from the way the world has revolved in the past.  There is a whole generation coming up that will be at odds with itself because they will have to enter a professional daycare institution that is diametrically opposed to the principles below.  

Children from 6-18 will want what Zuckerberg has written about here.  But, they could never work for FB because they will have been trained by a system that will dilute their efforts into mediocrity and deceive their thinking about success, saying that it has made them ready for their future.  It's a sad day when they realize that they have been duped.

Simply reading his five principles will allow a person to see how far the current training is from what the most financially successful young person on the planet says he wants his employees to be known for.   Zuckerberg is pledging that the people who invest and work with him can be reputed for the following 5 principles.

Focus on Impact

If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most important problems. It sounds simple, but we think most companies do this poorly and waste a lot of time. We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.

Move Fast

Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they're more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: "Move fast and break things." The idea is that if you never break anything, you're probably not moving fast enough.

Be Bold

Building great things means taking risks. This can be scary and prevents most companies from doing the bold things they should. However, in a world that's changing so quickly, you're guaranteed to fail if you don't take any risks. We have another saying: "The riskiest thing is to take no risks." We encourage everyone to make bold decisions, even if that means being wrong some of the time.

Be Open

We believe that a more open world is a better world because people with more information can make better decisions and have a greater impact. That goes for running our company as well. We work hard to make sure everyone at Facebook has access to as much information as possible about every part of the company so they can make the best decisions and have the greatest impact.

Build Social Value

Once again, Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company. We expect everyone at Facebook to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do.

Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. We believe that we have an opportunity to have an important impact on the world and build a lasting company in the process. I look forward to building something great together.
Mark Zuckerberg