Warning: This is blog post #1762 on this blog. This blog post falls into the 0.1% of the posts that fall under the “controversial” label.
The profound lessons that startups can learn from Facebook IPO
NONE!
Yes, I am exaggerating this and I am intentionally doing this to make a point in the end. I will also keep this short else it will contradict my own point in the blog post.
Reverse Engineering the Facebook Story
Tomorrow is the Facebook IPO and I am not expert enough to predict what is going to happen. There are enough people out there who are qualified to construct a theory that will explain what happened was what was supposed to happen. These reports will be insightful as those who write them are experts in reverse engineering a situation. They can go back to history of the company and pick all the things that will support their theory.
It’s hard to copy extraordinary success
I wish Facebook all the success and while it is inspiring (for me) to watch its phenomenal growth, I am not in the fantasy land to decode and discover the secret sauce that made Facebook happen AND apply it one of the startups I am involved with. What works for a company that had a meteoric rise rarely applies to a company that was founded in different times under different circumstances by different set of people.
So, while it’s interesting to learn what made Facebook successful, it’s not a good idea to recreate parts of it in the hope that it will work for your case.
Your attention is someone’s currency
In this day and age, you don’t need to always pay by cash – you could pay with your attention. There are several people out there who are vying for your attention and stories like Facebook IPO is a great way to DEMAND that attention. Just being aware of this will alert you when you are going overboard on this or any such story.
What Can Startups Do During These Times?
Let others reverse engineer and provide you the analysis of whatever happened to reach the current destination. You have your work cut out and if you spend inordinate amount of time reading up everything and anything related to this topic, automagically your work gets piled up. The more you get sucked into this, the more your work gets piled up.
So, resist your own temptation to over-analyze and over-consume the story and focus on creating your own story however big or small.
Have a great day.
Photo Courtesy: Search Engine Journal