How to Create the Next Facebook: Seeing Your Startup Through, From Idea to IPO Read Online Free

key.
    Let’s rewind to the start of the Internet boom, in 1994. Two entrepreneurs, Jane and Joe, started their own Internet companies, both of which grew quickly. The market was certainly big enough for several strong players, andthe founders were able to raise several rounds of venture capital before taking their respective companies public. By the late 1990s, Jane and Joe were both worth billions. Then, suddenly, the Internet market gave way—and so did the valuations; Jane and Joe were now facing possible bankruptcy. To avoid the collapse of their companies, they raised money at low valuations and had to fire hundreds of people, many of whom were friends. It was an agonizing experience. However, what happened next was crucial. Joe saw the experience as a failure and became risk adverse. Even though his company was beginning to experience growth again, he moved his business along at a slow pace. He tried to avoid any long-term commitments, such as investing in new technologies or hiring people. Joe ultimately sold his company for about $700 million. True, this is a great deal, but it could have been much better.
    You see, Jane did just the opposite. She continued to believe that her opportunity was huge, and she started to get aggressive with her investments. She hired more employees. She even struck several large acquisitions to add new products and customers. It was risky, but Jane’s company’s growth exploded . When Joe was selling his company for $700 million, Jane was selling hers for nearly $7 billion.
Put It All Together
    The content of blogs like Techcrunch, VentureBeat, and Pandodaily, and the stories about the entrepreneurs in this book may be intimidating to aspiring entrepreneurs. How can you compete? How can you raise the financing? Is your idea good enough? How do you build the right team? Before you get too overwhelmed, it is important to take some deep breaths and think about how other great entrepreneurs got their start. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple in a garage. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in a dorm. So, what is it that sets the Jobs, Wozniaks, and Zuckerbergs of the world apart? The answer is this: These founders started small, but they had lots of energy, passion, and focus. They also had little or no business or startup experience. Instead, they figured things out along the way.
    So think big, but start small. As seen in the chapter, the “big” part is the mission, which should always be the driving force of the company. You should also be exceptionally passionate about it— almost becoming an obsession. Is your mission something you would quit your job for? If not, you probably should keep your job.
    In the next chapter, we’ll get deeper into the process of building your venture. We’ll take a look at making sure you build a solid legal foundation.

Legal Structure
    A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
    —Samuel Goldwyn
    Like many smart young software engineers, Mark Zuckerberg did a lot of contract work for an array of clients while he was in college. Often, these gigs were short term in nature, but they tended to generate thousands of dollars for him. In fact, the money actually helped him pay his way through Harvard.
    However, Zuckerberg did not understand the risks of these engagements. What if he developed a product or program that ultimately conflicted with the creation of Facebook? Might he be giving away his valuable intellectual property? As it turned out, the contract work that Zuckerberg undertook as a college student turned out to be a real source of legal problems for him and his young company, and Zuckerberg ended up making some big-time legal mistakes that cost Facebook dearly before he got the help of a qualified attorney.
    In this chapter, we take a look at the legal blunders Zuckerberg made during his company’s infancy, as well as several strategies he could have used to avoid the many infamous legal headaches that Facebook has