Review: The Facebook Effect

Up until a week ago, I believed that Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook, had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He just whipped up this little thing called The Facebook (that’s what it was called back then) on his laptop in Harvard and then just sat back and stockpiled the money that poured in.

Then I read The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World and my entire perspective changed. There was nothing easy about how Mark Zuckerberg got to where he is today. He flat out earned it. Period.

Crazy or genius?

I also was curious before reading the book why Mark has never sold Facebook. Heck, I think I just read that it’s latest valuation puts the company’s estimated worth at $33 billion (yes, billion) dollars. And while I still think Mark may be a bit crazy for not selling Facebook, I do have a much better understanding of what is going on inside his head. And if you think he’s done with his plans for Facebook, think again. The glimpse into Facebook’s future is worth the read of this book alone.

The only negative I have heard about the book is that it is too long (the audio version I listened to is over 14 hours). But for me, the story breezed right on by, mostly because I was fascinated how Facebook went from dorm room project to the behemoth it is today.