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So what did Zuckerberg say?
By now you’ve all heard of the keynote Incident in which audience members started heckling journalist Sarah Lacy as she interviewed Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
It was pretty brutal to watch, as the audience members chafed at Lacy’s chatty, conversational style, and at one point yelled at her to “Ask more interesting questions!”
But enough of that.
Here are some highlights of what Zuckerberg had to say:
-“A lot of people thought it was a college thing for a long time,” Zuckerberg said. But he assured his audience that this is a “long-term” thing. “What we are tapping into is a universal need,” he said, the need to connect and communicate is a “fundamental thing,” and eventually, “this or something else like it can be used by everyone in the world.”
-On Microsoft: “They are very happy. We are very happy…I can tell you that it’s going very well for both of us.”
-On advertising/Beacon: “When we announced that, we probably got a little ahead of ourselves. We said we had more of it figured out that we probably did. We view that as a mistake that we made.”
The first iteration of Beacon was “just trying to get it out.” There were “a lot of mistakes in how we communicated it.”
“We’re still relatively new still and figuring this stuff out.”
-Discussed how the company structure is to build the Facebook platform, but an increasing number of applications “we’re not developing.”
“We know our DNA isn’t set to develop these things,” Zuckerberg said. We try to build a platform that allows other people to build services, he said.
-When asked if these privacy concerns were going to keep cropping up, Zuckerberg pointed out that 20 to 25 percent of Facebook users share their cell phones with their friends on the site. “Actually giving granular control, the more information we will be able to share and achieve our goals,” Zuckerberg said.
-Incentive system. Users are fundamentally good, Zuckerberg said. Their process keeps them in line. The more requests get approved, the more privileges, etc.
-When asked about article in the Financial Times that discussed the possibility of an iTunes-like music feature on Facebook, Zuckerberg’s first response was “I don’t know.”
“What is going on there is we talk to a lot of companies all the time about a lot of different things. There are great music applications. That is a vertical we haven’t gone after at all…music is not something we really touched on a lot.”
“As a company we’re out, talking to different companeis in this space, but at this point, I can say that … we have nothing to talk about right now.”
-Zuckerberg said along with Microsoft’s 1.6 percent stake and the $15 billion valuation came high expectations. He said recruiting can be difficult because it can attract people who may want to work for Facebook because they think they will strike it rich with an initial public offering or a sale of the company.
-An initial public offering or sale of the company “is not the goal. That’s really not what we are trying to go for.”
-When asked about the hiring of Sheryl Sandberg as chief operating officer, who was snagged away from Google, Zuckerberg said Facebook has about 500 employees now. “Having someone who can help us scale is incredibly important in the coming years,” he said. “I think she has a good track record.”
-When asked why he wants to be CEO, Zuckerberg said: “What the CEO does is sets the tone for the organization and sets the tone for what you are trying to build. Being in that role is a good way to make sure the organization focuses on that.”
-Being a technology company is an important part of the culture. Zuckerberg said they have a lot of empathy toward developers.
-When asked about whether Google was mad because Facebook is trapping so much information, Zuckerberg said in an aw-shucks manner, “No, those guys are nice.”
Anything else I missed? Tell me in the comments section.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW
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By Juan
March 11, 2008 12:02 PM | Link to this
como se dice "spell check"
By david
March 11, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
Wow - excellent editing skills. Here are a few itmes that I noticed that may need attention.
1. Incident should be incident
2. ti's should be it's
3. Discussed how the company structure is to build the Facebook platform, but an increasing number of applications “we’re not developing.” (I don't know what this means)
4. companeis should be companies
5. poitn should be point
I thnik there are porbably meor mistakse, but i dont' no fer shur.