@ D6: Facebook's Zuckerberg, Sandberg; Beacon Was "Big Mistake"; End Goal Isn't IPO
This story was written by Staci D. Kramer.
Facebook's still-new COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg are in the D spotlight's glare now ... Kara Swisher actually starts off with an apology for a late-night blog post where she dubbed Zuckerberg "toddler CEO"and promises not to do it again.
-- Why should Zuckerberg be CEO? "I think the CEO basically does two things: they set the vision for the company and they recruit a team." Like recruiting Sandberg from Google (NSDQ: GOOG), for instance.
-- Zuckerberg's theory on Facebook success: "You give people control and they'll share more information about themselves." Beacon was a "big mistake" but taught lessons about what works and what doesn't. Control for the user works; anything less doesn't.
-- Music and games: Facebook stayed out of music and games intentionally, leaving a gap to be filled by developers. (This is a little at odds with some of what we've heard over time about Facebook's interest in music.)
-- Value of widgets: Sandberg gently takes exception with Kara's disdain for meaningless widgets. "Can 20 million people poking each other be wrong? Value can be created in different ways. In a recent campaign with Ben & Jerry's, people gave each other 250,000 free cones. By the time the campaign ended, they estimate 53 million impressions. Sandberg admits that's not average but shows the potential.
-- Changing the developer's platform: Zuckerberg: Built on installing boxes and moving them around, Felt like the focus was becoming getting the boxes installed but they want developers to work more on engaging users, earning their place.
-- Options?: Zuckerberg thinks Kara knows by now he's not interested in sellingto Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) or anyone. The goal of the company is to execute the vision ... that's the goal. The end goal for us isn't to sell the company or IPO. Can they sell the company without you? "I don't think so."
-- Sandberg on Microsoft: "It's been a good partnership."
-- Zuckerberg on Google: He talks to them. The last time they spoke Larry Page and Eric Schmidt went to his apartment; Page got one of the two chairs and Schmidt wound up on the floor.
More to come.
By Staci D. Kramer