Facebook movie thread

[biophase]

I suppose someone should start it. I hadn't intended to see this movie at all, but after hearing some interviews and see the reviews I wanted to see it.

At the beginning of the movie, a movie custodian told us to put our phones on vibrate and not to update our facebook statuses to "watching facebook movie" during the movie.

I thought it was a very good movie. Alot of techy nerd talk and great dialogue. I loved seeing how ideas are born during the movie. Of course, we don't actually know how much of it is true.

 

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[NoMoneyDown]

The Social Network

(I could have sworn someone started a thread here about this movie, but I couldn't find it.)

I went to go see this movie yesterday afternoon, and WOW! was it a real eye opener. I HIGHLY recommend it for Fastlaners as it has a lot of parallels to what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur. Yes, there were some questionable things that occurred along the way to Mark Zuckerberg's success creating Facebook, but the guy was determined to succeed no matter what.

I don't want to give away any of the storyline, but there are many things throughout the movie Zuck did that is said on these forums over and over and over again. Hard work, determination, seeing things that others miss, implementing an idea (and not just thinking about it), and, yes, having a little luck at just the right time.

Great movie - highly recommended.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I could have sworn someone started a thread here about this movie, but I couldn't find it

I'll merge the two thread for ya. I haven't seen the movie quite yet.

 

[JayKim]

I think its one of the best films this year. I checked imdb and found a lot of interesting facts under the "trivia" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1285016/trivia) but it contains spoilers, I'd check it out after watching the movie. The director was David Fincher who also did fight club. It was funny to see what the first thefacebook looked like lol.

"One thing, I've always preached in entrepreneurship is that an idea doesn't mean anything. It's all about the execution. 1% is the idea. 99% is the execution." -Gurbaksh Chahal

(link has spoiler)
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/mi...r-america-please-wake-up-gurbaksh-chahal.html

 

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[CVentures1B12]

I don't go to the movies much...rarely, if ever, actually...but I am excited to head there and see this one.

Saw Zuckerburg on an interview and the movie was mentioned. He joked about it (since it is unauthorized) and said something along the lines of "I think it's great that he (Mark Zuckerberg) has such a great time in the movie...I wish the last 10 years had been parties and girls."

He goes on to talk about the countless sleepless nights he had and millions of hours spend coding and running his business. So who knows what is true, but from everything I read here and what I encounter myself...I'd venture to side with the latter.

 

[SDN]

I don't go to the movies much...rarely, if ever, actually...but I am excited to head there and see this one.

Saw Zuckerburg on an interview and the movie was mentioned. He joked about it (since it is unauthorized) and said something along the lines of "I think it's great that he (Mark Zuckerberg) has such a great time in the movie...I wish the last 10 years had been parties and girls."

He goes on to talk about the countless sleepless nights he had and millions of hours spend coding and running his business. So who knows what is true, but from everything I read here and what I encounter myself...I'd venture to side with the latter.

As far as what I've heard, Zuck 'accidentally' created a site for what he intended it to be. I heard that he made the site that was supposed to search up all the Harvard students at the time, and create a match for a relationship therefore it was called facebook, but he turned it into a Social Networking site because the original facebook idea failed.

I really want to see this movie, the trailer really inspired me. I hope I see it tomorrow!

 

[NoMoneyDown]

I don't go to the movies much...rarely, if ever, actually...but I am excited to head there and see this one.

Saw Zuckerburg on an interview and the movie was mentioned. He joked about it (since it is unauthorized) and said something along the lines of "I think it's great that he (Mark Zuckerberg) has such a great time in the movie...I wish the last 10 years had been parties and girls."

He goes on to talk about the countless sleepless nights he had and millions of hours spend coding and running his business. So who knows what is true, but from everything I read here and what I encounter myself...I'd venture to side with the latter.

Of course the move will over-dramatize a lot of aspects, but it really doesn't show him "partying" much, if at all. But it did show him dozing-off a few times and pulling all-nighters, as well as coding just about every time he could.

One of the things I liked about the movie was the absence of drugs (except for one scene, and Zuckerberg wasn't in it), absence of violence, and absence of nudity (although it did come close a couple of times).

Another thing I wasn't aware - and maybe it was one of those over-embellishment things movies do - is how much influence the Napster creator had on Zuckerberg's endeavor.

 

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[JayKim]

Another thing I wasn't aware - and maybe it was one of those over-embellishment things movies do - is how much influence the Napster creator had on Zuckerberg's endeavor.

Interesting article about Sean Parker. With a Little Help From His Friends | Culture | Vanity Fair

"Within a few short years, Parker went from apprehended 16-year-old hacker—he had managed to break into the computer networks of numerous multi-national corporations and even military databases—to world-class Internet entrepreneur. In 1999 he became rather notorious, at 19, for helping an even younger teenager named Shawn Fanning create Napster.That free song-sharing service upended the music industry. More recently, Parker played an indispensable role as the founding president of Facebook, the mammoth social-networking site where 500 million people now spend 700 billion minutes a month. Had he not joined founder Mark Zuckerberg in Palo Alto in the summer of 2004, when the fledgling Facebook was just five months old, the service almost certainly would not be the colossus it is today."

 

[lightning]

"The Social Network"

I know I’m not the only one who has seen this movie by now so I’m AMAZED there aren’t 10 threads about it already!!! (If there has been discussion, I apologize as I did a search and couldn’t find anything on it).

This movie was FANTASTIC, and in my opinion is a MUST-WATCH for any aspiring entrepreneurs out there. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I left the theatre last weekend. For those that don’t know, “The Social Network” is the story of Facebook, from the birth of the idea to major lawsuits against its founder who was alleged of intellectual property theft, to today…500-MILLION users and BILLIONS of dollars worth of online real-estate later.

To say the business lessons in this movie are profound is an understatement. This movie tells the story of a college kid who wasn’t afraid to think BIG…and the story of someone who went on to give the world something amazing that millions of people use and enjoy everyday.

It also takes you through dozens of issues and questions entrepreneurs deal with such as:

-Protecting what you own and guarding your ideas
-Who can you trust?
-Who do you want on your team?
-Are partners a liability or an asset? Or both?
-The effects of “bad press”
-The benefit of “simple” domain names (easy to say, easy to spell, easy to remember)
-The value of word-of-mouth advertising (friends telling friends telling friends telling friends etc. etc. etc.)
-Being willing to relocate for the greater good, even if it means leaving everything behind and crossing the country (this one reminded me of MJ’s story and the lessons he taught us). Ask yourself this, “WHERE should YOU live in this world, to make the MOST out of your current situation?”
-The importance of reliability when you operate a website (a system crashing is not something that inconveniences you for a day. It can have a lasting and EXTREMELY damaging effect on your sites reputation).
-What are people willing to pay for?
-And one of the biggest ones; When is the proper time to monetize a website?

Most of all, this movie is all about the potential of THINKING BIG!!!

Honestly, I recommend everyone on this site goes to see this movie. It is one of the most inspiring stories I have heard since I first read MJ’s thread many years ago. The acting in the movie was great as well (considering 2 of the main characters were relative no-names). Justin Timberlake played a great part, I have to give him a lot of credit.

FYI, if the above doesn’t entice you enough. Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) is now 26 years old, and is the youngest billionaire in the world after starting a website that is currently worth 25-BILLION.

NOW do you want to read his story?

 

[JayKim]

Heres the other thread. https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/off-topic-discussion/27970-facebook-movie-thread.html

 

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[Russ H]

threads merged

-Russ H.

 

[lightning]

Thanks Russ. I KNEW there had to be another thread about it somewhere!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Have to say, I haven't seen it quite yet but all the talk makes me curious.

 

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[lightning]

Have to say, I haven't seen it quite yet but all the talk makes me curious.

Go see it Mike!!!! I think youll really enjoy it, it is right up your alley.

Be sure to report back afterwards!

 

[Guest3722A]

Only looked at my watch once but it was not even a minute before the credits came on and I'd consider seeing it again so 4.5 stars.

 

[JayKim]

Mark Zuckerbergs first known site is on sale flippa.com. (links contain spoilers)

FaceMash.com - Domain for Sale: Facebook Founder's FIRST known website! FaceMash.com - As featured in the Movie!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-talk-facemash-auction-1015-20101013,0,2236205.story

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/05/facemash-sale/

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/10/8/website-site-name-domain/


http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2003/11/19/facemash-creator-survives-ad-board-the/ (original article published in the Harvard Crimson 11/19/03 )

 

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[Russ H]

Just saw it.

Great movie.

Def will see it again.

Unusual for a Hollywood movie in that it actually deals w/some of the more "boring"/less glamorous issues of building a company. It does this, however, w/a backdrop of girls, girls, girls-- parties, clubs, drinks-- making it seem more glam that it prolly was in real life (but hey, it's a movie).

My favorite lines:

Sean Parker (napster): "I'm an entrepreneur" Response: "You mean you're unemployed"

Law student to Zuckerberg: "Mark, you're not an a**hole. You just work really hard at being one."

-Russ H.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Most of all, this movie is all about the potential of THINKING BIG!!!

I saw the movie this weekend.

I thought it was OK from an entertainment perspective -- however from a business point-of-view, it had some great points as Mike spotlighted above ...

Partners? Yea? Nay?
When to get investors? Who?
Moving across the country..

What resonated with me was the startup phase in the dorm-room ... while everyone was out drinking and getting toasted, Mark was in his dorm chugging out code (albeit drunk)

My only issue with the movie is it focused way too much on the "IDEA" -- as we know, ideas are worthless. Mark executed the idea -- the Phoenix frat boys did not. By the time the movie was over, I was sick of hearing people argue about who had the idea and what not ... I'm afraid that this movie will further foster the illusion that ideas are worth something when they aren't.

I thought a lot of of Shawn's advice parallels some of the things I write about in my book ... one thing that I took away from it was this analogy ...

When you see a fisherman's picture on the wall, what does the picture show? The fisherman with 40 little trouts? Or one HUGE MARLIN? Shoot for Marlins, not Trouts.

 

[Russ H]

When you see a fisherman's picture on the wall, what does the picture show? The fisherman with 40 little trouts? Or one HUGE MARLIN? Shoot for Marlins, not Trouts.

I loved this analogy, too. Very fastlane, if you're talking about a biz idea (do one BIG one, not 30 small ones).

But I didn't want people to get the wrong idea-- I make more money selling to the masses (lots of little trouts) than back when I had just a few big "fish" (clients).

It's the old "sell to the masses, live w/the classes . . . sell to the classes, live w/the masses" thing.

Sell millions of things for $10 apiece, and you'll be better off than trying to sell a few things at $100K ea.

-Russ H.

 

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[Russ H]

I saw the movie this weekend.

I thought it was OK from an entertainment perspective -- however from a business point-of-view, it had some great points as Mike spotlighted above ...

Partners? Yea? Nay?
When to get investors? Who?
Moving across the country..

What resonated with me was the startup phase in the dorm-room ... while everyone was out drinking and getting toasted, Mark was in his dorm chugging out code (albeit drunk)

I loved the message on how small things (live chickens, invites to social clubs) could become much bigger things later.

That each and every move you make-- esp CONTRACTS YOU SIGN-- have big implications.

HUGE.

That, for me, was the big message of the movie.

That, and it doesn't matter if it's your idea (as the Harvard Pres says, "Everyone here at Harvard has ideas. People here are in love with the idea of creating their own job. Just go out and get another idea." (he said it much better).

What matters is execution-- working your *ss off to make the idea a viable business.

-Russ H.

 

[NoMoneyDown]

Also, I liked how after he got the web site started, he understood the concept of networking - IOW, sharing the load. At first it was him, then him and his two room mates (one to help with programming and one to help with the business side), and later in Cali, it was him and several more programmers/etc., until finally it was a full-blown company with many employees. Not to mention his networking to get investors, etc.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

And if you also notice, he wasn't concerned about money ... while the other partner, was consumed by monetizing... monetizing would have killed the product, Marc was focused on the product and the need ...

My point: The product/need LED, money followed. Entrepreneurs love to screw this up and put money FIRST and by doing so, they screw up the product.

 

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[biophase]

My only issue with the movie is it focused way too much on the "IDEA" -- as we know, ideas are worthless. Mark executed the idea -- the Phoenix frat boys did not. By the time the movie was over, I was sick of hearing people argue about who had the idea and what not ... I'm afraid that this movie will further foster the illusion that ideas are worth something when they aren't.

While I totally agree that ideas are worthless. I feel that the big difference in this case was that the Winklebi's actually moved forward with their idea and hired Mark to produce it. They did not sit on an idea. They moved forward.

I think that the issue is that Mark's Facebook idea was seeded by the Winklebi's and in any other case there would probably have been no issue at all, but Mark was actually the person hired to implement their idea.

Scenario 1: I come up with a car that runs on water, I hired XYZ to build it. XYZ builds their own car that runs on water while they were suppose to be working on mine.

Scenario 2: I come up with a car that runs on water, I talk about it to an employee at XYZ company over drinks. XYZ builds their own car that runs on water two months later.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I think that the issue is that Mark's Facebook idea was seeded by the Winklebi's and in any other case there would probably have been no issue at all, but Mark was actually the person hired to implement their idea.

If "Scenario 1" is true, it was indeed intellectual theft. However, how much of that is fiction and how much is true?

 

[Bond]

Scenario 1: I come up with a car that runs on water, I hired XYZ to build it. XYZ builds their own car that runs on water while they were suppose to be working on mine.

Scenario 2: I come up with a car that runs on water, I talk about it to an employee at XYZ company over drinks. XYZ builds their own car that runs on water two months later.

Reminds me of this:

Barnes and Noble nook stole Spring Design secrets claims ebook lawsuit - SlashGear

 

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[NoMoneyDown]

If "Scenario 1" is true, it was indeed intellectual theft. However, how much of that is fiction and how much is true?

Plus, who knows what the agreement b/w the two parties was for, specifically. In the movie, it seems that a lot of Mark's idea's that separated his idea from others, like MySpace and Friendster, came AFTER his product was gaining steam. Maybe the original agreement was just for a barebones website with no specific added functionality. Besides, according to the movie they settled with a lawsuit and got paid pretty good (albeit, at a fraction of FB's current capitalization).

 

[Russ H]

And if you also notice, the other partner, was consumed by monetizing... monetizing would have killed the product, Marc was focused on the product and the need ...

Agreed.

But I think there was also a divide in his "book knowledge" econ degree (and wanting to monetize it through traditional B&M channels), and Zuckerberg/Parker seeing the potential of the "new" internet economy-- and seeing the big (WAY bigger) picture.

While it wasn't stated (and things like chickens and social clubs were), I saw this as the real rift between the two founders.

-Russ H.

 

[Russ H]

Interesting interview of Sean Parker (napster):

With a Little Help From His Friends | Culture | Vanity Fair

-Russ H.

 

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[hakrjak]

"One thing, I've always preached in entrepreneurship is that an idea doesn't mean anything. It's all about the execution. 1% is the idea. 99% is the execution." -Gurbaksh Chahal

I couldn't agree more with this concept. I actually started Facebook in 1995. Yep, you heard it here first.... I created an Internet company with a product called "The Digital Business Card"... The product was basically a Facebook profile, which would have your picture, some personal info, a resume if you chose -- and anything else you'd like to include. You could be linked to other business cards, and so on. I charged $99 each for these profiles, and needless to say -- I sold a grand total of maybe 25 of them.

If someone would have told me I could have been a billionaire by giving this service out for free, I would have laughed in their face. And that is why execution is 99% of everything.... Ideas are a dime a dozen!!! I lacked the ability to see the "big picture"

- Hakrjak

 

[Russ H]

I couldn't agree more with this concept. I actually started Facebook in 1995. Yep, you heard it here first.... I created an Internet company with a product called "The Digital Business Card"... The product was basically a Facebook profile, which would have your picture, some personal info, a resume if you chose -- and anything else you'd like to include. You could be linked to other business cards, and so on. I charged $99 each for these profiles, and needless to say -- I sold a grand total of maybe 25 of them.

If someone would have told me I could have been a billionaire by giving this service out for free, I would have laughed in their face. And that is why execution is 99% of everything.... Ideas are a dime a dozen!!! I lacked the ability to see the "big picture"

- Hakrjak

Sounds more like LinkedIn, to me.

Or Plaxo (wink)-- if you're a fan of Sean Parker!

-Russ H.