- The speaker started Facebook when he was a sophomore in college and initially planned to go back to school while working on it part-time
- Investor Peter Thiel believed they wouldn't go back to school and the workload increased rapidly, causing them to eventually drop out
- Peter Thiel's best advice was that in a rapidly changing world, not taking any risks is the biggest risk
- Facebook focuses on hiring talented individuals, regardless of their experience, and gives them opportunities to grow within the company
- The speaker is proud that most of the people running product groups at Facebook did not start off reporting to him, showing the company's ability to create opportunities for its employees.

This is an excerpt of Mark's How to Build the Future interview with Sam Altman - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb4IcGF5iTQ

to make this point, how far into Facebook did it actually become a company?

I think probably, I think it became a formal Delaware company when Peter Thiel invested about 6 months in.

When we were first talking to Peter about raising money, Dustin and I were very clear with him that we were planning on going back to school.

I mean, our, you know, I started Facebook when I was a sophomore.

We took the summer off, right, No classes over the summer.

And then our stated game plan was to go back to school in the fall and continue working on it then, but not sit in an office and work on it full time.

And Peter was just kind of like, all right, sure you are.

he just believed that you weren't actually going to go back

So I think he would probably say that he knew that we were not going to go back to school or believed that he could talk us out of it.

It was pretty clear that the amount of work was just growing so quickly.

But we actually didn't drop out immediately.

We told Harvard that we were taking 1 semester off.

And then we told Harvard that we were taking another semester off, and then a year off, and then after that we kind of decided we weren't going back.

Speaking of Peter, and this is sort of a closing question, What's the best piece of advice he ever gave you?

I think Peter was the person who told me this really pithy quote that in a world that's changing so quickly, the biggest risk you can take is not taking any risk.

And I really think that that's true, right?

I mean, a lot of people I think think that, you know, whenever it comes to, whenever you get yourself into a position where you have to make some big shift in direction or do something, there are always people who are going to point to the downside risks of that decision.

For any given decision that you're going to make, there's upside and downside.

But in aggregate, if you are stagnant and you don't make those changes, then I think you're guaranteed to fail, right, and not catch up.

So to some degree, I think it's really right that over time, The biggest risk that you can take is to not take any risks.

think Facebook has done exceptionally well is hiring.

And I always tell founders that this is the thing you have to get good at.

And what do you look for when you bring people on?

If you think about it, you know, I started the company when I was 19, right?

So I can't institutionally believe that experience is that important, right?

Or else I would have a hard time reconciling, you know, myself, right?

So, you know, We invest in people who we think are just really talented, even if they haven't done that thing before.

And that applies to people who are fresh out of university, as well as people like the CFO who took the company public and not taken a company public before.

A lot of his background was in production, development, and Genentech before.

And so if you don't have the experience to look for, how do you assess someone's raw talent?

Well, often you can tell from different things that they've done.

So it's not that, obviously everyone's done something, even if you're 19, you've done side projects and interesting stuff.

And I think what's important is not to believe that someone has to have specifically done the job that they're going to do in order to be able to do it well.

1 of the things that I think we've done well is just given the people at the company a lot of opportunity.

So it's not just me who started when I was 19 and now I'm running this big company, there were a number of people who joined who were people I did problem sets with at Harvard or dropped out of Stanford or different programs who have grown with the company over this long period of time.

And 1 of the things that I'm the most proud of is we have about 12 different product groups at the company and all of the people who are running them with the exception of 1 did not join the company running a product group or reporting to me.

And the 1 exception is David Marcus, who was the CEO of a $50 billion public company.

And having him run a product group, I think, is a pretty big coup, too.

But literally, None of them started off reporting to me.

Some were engineers, some were data analysts, some were product managers, and they've all grown.

But I think what happens is people see that you create opportunities for people, and that also I think keeps the best people engaged and makes the best people want to come work at your company because they feel like, oh I'm going to get those kind of opportunities too.


Speaker 0: And just

Speaker 1: to make this point, how far into Facebook did it actually become a company?

Speaker 0: I don't know. I think probably, I think it became a formal Delaware company when Peter Thiel invested about 6 months in. When we were first talking to Peter about raising money, Dustin and I were very clear with him that we were planning on going back to school. I mean, our, you know, I started Facebook when I was a sophomore. We took the summer off, right, No classes over the summer.

We were working on it. And then our stated game plan was to go back to school in the fall and continue working on it then, but not sit in an office and work on it full time. And Peter was just kind of like, all right, sure you are. I guess he knew better than we did. Do you think

Speaker 1: he just believed that you weren't actually going to go back

Speaker 0: to school. He must have. I mean, you'd have to ask him.

Speaker 1: But I will. We're interviewing him in this series. I will

Speaker 0: answer that question. So I think he would probably say that he knew that we were not going to go back to school or believed that he could talk us out of it. But he didn't have to. It was pretty clear that the amount of work was just growing so quickly. But we actually didn't drop out immediately.

We told Harvard that we were taking 1 semester off. And then we told Harvard that we were taking another semester off, and then a year off, and then after that we kind of decided we weren't going back.

Speaker 1: Speaking of Peter, and this is sort of a closing question, What's the best piece of advice he ever gave you?

Speaker 0: I think Peter was the person who told me this really pithy quote that in a world that's changing so quickly, the biggest risk you can take is not taking any risk. And I really think that that's true, right? I mean, a lot of people I think think that, you know, whenever it comes to, whenever you get yourself into a position where you have to make some big shift in direction or do something, there are always people who are going to point to the downside risks of that decision. And locally, they're maybe right. For any given decision that you're going to make, there's upside and downside.

But in aggregate, if you are stagnant and you don't make those changes, then I think you're guaranteed to fail, right, and not catch up. So to some degree, I think it's really right that over time, The biggest risk that you can take is to not take any risks. Another thing that I

Speaker 1: think Facebook has done exceptionally well is hiring. And I always tell founders that this is the thing you have to get good at. So how have you hired your team? And what do you look for when you bring people on?

Speaker 0: If you think about it, you know, I started the company when I was 19, right? So I can't institutionally believe that experience is that important, right? Or else I would have a hard time reconciling, you know, myself, right? And the company. So, you know, We invest in people who we think are just really talented, even if they haven't done that thing before.

And that applies to people who are fresh out of university, as well as people like the CFO who took the company public and not taken a company public before. A lot of his background was in production, development, and Genentech before. So just focus on really talented people.

Speaker 1: And so if you don't have the experience to look for, how do you assess someone's raw talent?

Speaker 0: Well, often you can tell from different things that they've done. So it's not that, obviously everyone's done something, even if you're 19, you've done side projects and interesting stuff. And I think what's important is not to believe that someone has to have specifically done the job that they're going to do in order to be able to do it well. 1 of the things that I think we've done well is just given the people at the company a lot of opportunity. So it's not just me who started when I was 19 and now I'm running this big company, there were a number of people who joined who were people I did problem sets with at Harvard or dropped out of Stanford or different programs who have grown with the company over this long period of time.

And 1 of the things that I'm the most proud of is we have about 12 different product groups at the company and all of the people who are running them with the exception of 1 did not join the company running a product group or reporting to me. That's amazing. And the 1 exception is David Marcus, who was the CEO of a $50 billion public company. So I'm pretty happy that he's on board. And having him run a product group, I think, is a pretty big coup, too.

But literally, None of them started off reporting to me. They all started off in different roles. Some were engineers, some were data analysts, some were product managers, and they've all grown. But I think what happens is people see that you create opportunities for people, and that also I think keeps the best people engaged and makes the best people want to come work at your company because they feel like, oh I'm going to get those kind of opportunities too. You

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Mark Zuckerberg on Taking Risks and Finding Talented People