What’s the first thought that comes into your mind when you think of Mark Zuckerberg? The name is synonymous to Facebook. He’s the man who transformed social media.
Zuckerberg is the founder and creator of Facebook that he started on a small dorm room at Harvard, and went to scale up his venture in size. Now, Facebook is genuinely the most sought-after and widely utilized social networking platform across the entire planet.
Are you wondering what contributed to the massive growth of Facebook? Well, it’s only his impressive entrepreneurial and leadership skill capabilities.
Below are the top five lessons every entrepreneur could learn from this social media genius.
1. Remain focused at your end goal
Zuckerberg was always focused on his end goal even after a million lawsuits and accusations. His goal was to create a social networking platform that’s so massive the entire world would use it.
Therefore, instead of walking away with the billion dollars offered by Yahoo, he worked tirelessly to make his idea work, although there was risks involved. His vision fuelled his determination to carry on.
2. Aim big
Facebook began as a connection platform for Harvard students exclusively. Later on, it expanded to other colleges too. The next concept Zuckerberg built on would be the one that transformed how people communicate socially via the internet.
After less than a year it was developed, over a million people joined the social network. We learn here that dreams are the catalysts for change. Even if the dream seems ridiculous or unattainable, there is value in dreams. As the famous Oscar Wilde said,
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
3. Be prepared to give in your everything
Zuckerberg might be one of the most flourishing entrepreneurs everyone wishes to become. This is because he put in a lot of hard work and dedication no stranger could understand. This man had his goals set from the start. He decided to drop out of Harvard to invest all his time to the project after Facebook began gaining fame.
He was fully aware that he could not make it greater with half in, half out approach.
4. Own your idea
Many firms, such as Yahoo, wanted to purchase Facebook. The company offered a tremendous amount of money to Zuckerberg. However, he believed he could make his venture work by himself and refused to sell it to Yahoo.
Eventually, Peter Thiel, the creator of PayPal, invested $500,000 as the site gained fame. That amount was enough for instant Facebook purposes. Zuckerberg needed more investments for further developments.
Later on, Accel Partners also invested in Facebook with $12.7 million, while Greylock Partners also added $27.5 million to that amount.
5. Believe in your dreams
Always keep in mind that if you don’t have the confidence in your idea, no one else will. Zuckerberg was running Facebook from his dorm room with friends in its preliminary stages.
Mark’s partner Estevez wanted Facebook to gain more money from ads. However, Zuckerberg repudiated it, as he wanted it to gain reputation first and then let publicity stunts on the site. That massively contributed to the initial success of Facebook.
Every entrepreneur, young and old, could learn to be focused on their targets like Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark Zuckerberg quotes on success
“Our philosophy is that we care about people first.”
“In terms of doing work and in terms of learning and evolving as a person, you just grow more when you get more people’s perspectives… I really try and live the mission of the company and… keep everything else in my life extremely simple.”
“I started the site when I was 19. I did not know much about business then. ”
“When you give everyone a voice and give people power, the system usually ends up in a really good place. So, what we view our role as, is giving people that power.”
“Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission – to make the world more open and connected. ”
I think that people just have this core desire to express who they are. And I think that’s always existed.
