8/3/2019 Letter from Mark Zuckerberg

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/letter-from-mark-zuckerberg 1/4

LETTERFROMMARKZUCKERBERG

Facebookwasnotoriginallycreatedtobeacompany.Itwasbuilttoaccomplishasocialmission—tomaketheworldmoreopenandconnected.

Wethinkit’simportantthateveryonewhoinvestsinFacebookunderstandswhatthismissionmeanstous,howwemakedecisionsandwhywedothethingswedo.Iw

illtrytooutlineourapproachinthisletter.

AtFacebook,we’reinspiredbytechnologiesthathaverevolutionizedhowpeoplespreadandconsumeinformation.Weoftentalkaboutinventionsliketheprintingpressandthetelevision—bysimplymakingcommunicationmoreefficient,theyledtoacompletetransformationofmanyimportantpartsofsociety.Theygavemorepeopleavoice.Theyencouragedprogress.Theychangedthewaysocietywasorganized.Theybroughtusclosertogether.

Today,oursocietyhasreachedanothertippingpoint.Weliveatamomentwhenthemajorityofpeopleintheworldhaveaccesstotheinternetormobilephones—therawtoolsnecessarytostartsharingwhatthey’rethinking,feelinganddoing

withwhomevertheywant.Facebookaspirestobuildtheservicesthatgivepeoplethepowertoshareandhelpthemonceagaintransformmanyofourcoreinstitutionsandindustries.

Thereisahugeneedandahugeopportunitytogeteveryoneintheworldconnected,togiveeveryoneavoiceandtohelptransformsocietyforthefuture.Thescaleofthetechnologyandinfrastructurethatmustbebuiltisunprecedented,andwebelievethisisthemostimportantproblemwecanfocuson.

Wehopetostrengthenhowpeoplerelatetoeachother.

Evenifourmissionsoundsbig,itstartssmall—withtherelationshipbetweentwopeople.

Personalrelationshipsarethefundamentalunitofoursociety.Relationshipsarehowwediscovernewideas,understandourworldandultimatelyderivelong-termhappiness.

AtFacebook,webuildtoolstohelppeopleconnectwiththepeopletheywantandsharewhattheywant,andbydoingthisweareextendingpeople’scapacitytobuildandmaintainrelationships.

Peoplesharingmore—evenifjustwiththeirclosefriendsorfamilies—createsamoreopencultureandleadstoabetterunderstandingofthelivesandperspectivesofothers.Webelievethatthiscreatesagreaternumberofstrongerrelatio

nshipsbetweenpeople,andthatithelpspeoplegetexposedtoagreaternumberofdiverseperspectives.

Byhelpingpeopleformtheseconnections,wehopetorewirethewaypeoplespreadandconsumeinformation.Wethinktheworld’sinformationinfrastructureshouldresemblethesocialgraph—anetworkbuiltfromthebottomuporpeer-to-peer,ratherthanthemonolithic,top-downstructurethathasexistedtodate.Wealsobelievethatgivingpeoplecontroloverwhattheyshareisafundamentalprincipleofthisrewiring.

Wehavealreadyhelpedmorethan800millionpeoplemapoutmorethan100billionconnectionssofar,andourgoalistohelpthisrewiringaccelerate.

Wehopetoimprovehowpeopleconnecttobusinessesandtheeconomy.

Wethinkamoreopenandconnectedworldwillhelpcreateastrongereconomywit

8/3/2019 Letter from Mark Zuckerberg

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/letter-from-mark-zuckerberg 2/4

hmoreauthenticbusinessesthatbuildbetterproductsandservices.

Aspeoplesharemore,theyhaveaccesstomoreopinionsfromthepeopletheytrustabouttheproductsandservicestheyuse.Thismakesiteasiertodiscoverthebestproductsandimprovethequalityandefficiencyoftheirlives.

Oneresultofmakingiteasiertofindbetterproductsisthatbusinesseswillb

erewardedforbuildingbetterproducts—onesthatarepersonalizedanddesignedaroundpeople.Wehavefoundthatproductsthatare“socialbydesign”tendtobemoreengagingthantheirtraditionalcounterparts,andwelookforwardtoseeingmoreoftheworld’sproductsmoveinthisdirection.

Ourdeveloperplatformhasalreadyenabledhundredsofthousandsofbusinessestobuildhigher-qualityandmoresocialproducts.Wehaveseendisruptivenewapproachesinindustrieslikegames,musicandnews,andweexpecttoseesimilardisruptioninmoreindustriesbynewapproachesthataresocialbydesign.

Inadditiontobuildingbetterproducts,amoreopenworldwillalsoencouragebusinessestoengagewiththeircustomersdirectlyandauthentically.Morethanf

ourmillionbusinesseshavePagesonFacebookthattheyusetohaveadialoguewiththeircustomers.Weexpectthistrendtogrowaswell.

Wehopetochangehowpeoplerelatetotheirgovernmentsandsocialinstitutions.

Webelievebuildingtoolstohelppeoplesharecanbringamorehonestandtransparentdialoguearoundgovernmentthatcouldleadtomoredirectempowermentofpeople,moreaccountabilityforofficialsandbettersolutionstosomeofthebiggestproblemsofourtime.

Bygivingpeoplethepowertoshare,wearestartingtoseepeoplemaketheirvoicesheardonadifferentscalefromwhathashistoricallybeenpossible.These

voiceswillincreaseinnumberandvolume.Theycannotbeignored.Overtime,weexpectgovernmentswillbecomemoreresponsivetoissuesandconcernsraiseddirectlybyalltheirpeopleratherthanthroughintermediariescontrolledbyaselectfew.

Throughthisprocess,webelievethatleaderswillemergeacrossallcountrieswhoarepro-internetandfightfortherightsoftheirpeople,includingtherighttosharewhattheywantandtherighttoaccessallinformationthatpeoplewanttosharewiththem.

Finally,asmoreoftheeconomymovestowardshigher-qualityproductsthatarepersonalized,wealsoexpecttoseetheemergenceofnewservicesthataresocialbydesigntoaddressthelargeworldwideproblemswefaceinjobcreation,educationandhealthcare.Welookforwardtodoingwhatwecantohelpthisprogress.

OurMissionandOurBusiness

AsIsaidabove,Facebookwasnotoriginallyfoundedtobeacompany.We’vealwayscaredprimarilyaboutoursocialmission,theserviceswe’rebuildingandthepeoplewhousethem.Thisisadifferentapproachforapubliccompanytotake,soIwanttoexplainwhyIthinkitworks.

IstartedoffbywritingthefirstversionofFacebookmyselfbecauseitwassomethingIwantedtoexist.Sincethen,mostoftheideasandcodethathavegone

intoFacebookhavecomefromthegreatpeoplewe’veattractedtoourteam.

Mostgreatpeoplecareprimarilyaboutbuildingandbeingapartofgreatthings

8/3/2019 Letter from Mark Zuckerberg

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/letter-from-mark-zuckerberg 3/4

,buttheyalsowanttomakemoney.Throughtheprocessofbuildingateam—andalsobuildingadevelopercommunity,advertisingmarketandinvestorbase—I’vedevelopedadeepappreciationforhowbuildingastrongcompanywithastrongeconomicengineandstronggrowthcanbethebestwaytoalignmanypeopletosolveimportantproblems.

Simplyput:wedon’tbuildservicestomakemoney;wemakemoneytobuildbetters

ervices.

Andwethinkthisisagoodwaytobuildsomething.ThesedaysIthinkmoreandmorepeoplewanttouseservicesfromcompaniesthatbelieveinsomethingbeyondsimplymaximizingprofits.

Byfocusingonourmissionandbuildinggreatservices,webelievewewillcreatethemostvalueforourshareholdersandpartnersoverthelongterm—andthisinturnwillenableustokeepattractingthebestpeopleandbuildingmoregreatservices.Wedon’twakeupinthemorningwiththeprimarygoalofmakingmoney,butweunderstandthatthebestwaytoachieveourmissionistobuildastrongandvaluablecompany.

ThisishowwethinkaboutourIPOaswell.We’regoingpublicforouremployeesandourinvestors.Wemadeacommitmenttothemwhenwegavethemequitythatwe’dworkhardtomakeitworthalotandmakeitliquid,andthisIPOisfulfillingourcommitment.Aswebecomeapubliccompany,we’remakingasimilarcommitmenttoournewinvestorsandwewillworkjustashardtofulfillit.

TheHackerWay

Aspartofbuildingastrongcompany,weworkhardatmakingFacebookthebestplaceforgreatpeopletohaveabigimpactontheworldandlearnfromothergreatpeople.WehavecultivatedauniquecultureandmanagementapproachthatwecalltheHackerWay.

Theword“hacker”hasanunfairlynegativeconnotationfrombeingportrayedinthemediaaspeoplewhobreakintocomputers.Inreality,hackingjustmeansbuildingsomethingquicklyortestingtheboundariesofwhatcanbedone.Likemostthings,itcanbeusedforgoodorbad,butthevastmajorityofhackersI’vemettendtobeidealisticpeoplewhowanttohaveapositiveimpactontheworld.

TheHackerWayisanapproachtobuildingthatinvolvescontinuousimprovementanditeration.Hackersbelievethatsomethingcanalwaysbebetter,andthatnothingisevercomplete.Theyjusthavetogofixit—ofteninthefaceofpeoplewhosayit’simpossibleorarecontentwiththestatusquo.

Hackerstrytobuildthebestservicesoverthelongtermbyquicklyreleasingandlearningfromsmalleriterationsratherthantryingtogeteverythingrightallatonce.Tosupportthis,wehavebuiltatestingframeworkthatatanygiventimecantryoutthousandsofversionsofFacebook.Wehavethewords“Doneisbetterthanperfect”paintedonourwallstoremindourselvestoalwayskeepshipping.

Hackingisalsoaninherentlyhands-onandactivediscipline.Insteadofdebatingfordayswhetheranewideaispossibleorwhatthebestwaytobuildsomethingis,hackerswouldratherjustprototypesomethingandseewhatworks.There’sahackermantrathatyou’llhearalotaroundFacebookoffices:“Codewinsarguments.”

Hackercultureisalsoextremelyopenandmeritocratic.Hackersbelievethatthe

bestideaandimplementationshouldalwayswin—notthepersonwhoisbestatlobbyingforanideaorthepersonwhomanagesthemostpeople.

8/3/2019 Letter from Mark Zuckerberg

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/letter-from-mark-zuckerberg 4/4

Toencouragethisapproach,everyfewmonthswehaveahackathon,whereeveryonebuildsprototypesfornewideastheyhave.Attheend,thewholeteamgetstogetherandlooksateverythingthathasbeenbuilt.Manyofourmostsuccessfulproductscameoutofhackathons,includingTimeline,chat,video,ourmobiledevelopmentframeworkandsomeofourmostimportantinfrastructureliketheHipHopcompiler.

Tomakesureallourengineerssharethisapproach,werequireallnewengineers—evenmanagerswhoseprimaryjobwillnotbetowritecode—togothroughaprogramcalledBootcampwheretheylearnourcodebase,ourtoolsandourapproach.Therearealotoffolksintheindustrywhomanageengineersanddon’twanttocodethemselves,butthetypeofhands-onpeoplewe’relookingforarewillingandabletogothroughBootcamp.

Theexamplesaboveallrelatetoengineering,butwehavedistilledtheseprinciplesintofivecorevaluesforhowwerunFacebook:

FocusonImpact

Ifwewanttohavethebiggestimpact,thebestwaytodothisistomakesurewealwaysfocusonsolvingthemostimportantproblems.Itsoundssimple,butwethinkmostcompaniesdothispoorlyandwastealotoftime.WeexpecteveryoneatFacebooktobegoodatfindingthebiggestproblemstoworkon.

MoveFast

Movingfastenablesustobuildmorethingsandlearnfaster.However,asmostcompaniesgrow,theyslowdowntoomuchbecausethey’remoreafraidofmakingmistakesthantheyareoflosingopportunitiesbymovingtooslowly.Wehaveasaying:“Movefastandbreakthings.”Theideaisthatifyouneverbreakanything,you’reprobablynotmovingfastenough.

BeBold

Buildinggreatthingsmeanstakingrisks.Thiscanbescaryandpreventsmostcompaniesfromdoingtheboldthingstheyshould.However,inaworldthat’schangingsoquickly,you’reguaranteedtofailifyoudon’ttakeanyrisks.Wehaveanothersaying:“Theriskiestthingistotakenorisks.”Weencourageeveryonetomakebolddecisions,evenifthatmeansbeingwrongsomeofthetime.

BeOpen

Webelievethatamoreopenworldisabetterworldbecausepeoplewithmoreinformationcanmakebetterdecisionsandhaveagreaterimpact.Thatgoesforrunningourcompanyaswell.WeworkhardtomakesureeveryoneatFacebookhasaccesstoasmuchinformationaspossibleabouteverypartofthecompanysotheycanmakethebestdecisionsandhavethegreatestimpact.

BuildSocialValue

Onceagain,Facebookexiststomaketheworldmoreopenandconnected,andnotjusttobuildacompany.WeexpecteveryoneatFacebooktofocuseverydayonhowtobuildrealvaluefortheworldineverythingtheydo.

Thanksfortakingthetimetoreadthisletter.Webelievethatwehaveanopportunitytohaveanimportantimpactontheworldandbuildalastingcompanyintheprocess.Ilookforwardtobuildingsomethinggreattogether.

[signedMarkZuckerberg]