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Abstract

In just over two years, Mark Zuckerberg had built the Internet directory service Facebook from nothing more than an idea into a national phenomenon worthy of a reported $750 million buyout offer. The organization had grown from just a few friends programming around a kitchen table to a full-fledged technology business with over 100 employees and 7.4 million users. Zuckerberg would have to develop an organizational strategy that could allow the company to keep up with its underlying growth metrics, while ensuring Facebook's consumer experience was better than its alternative's. The company's core market - college students - was prone to switching, and potential new markets - college students outside the United States and high school students - were rife with well-funded entrants that were a step ahead of Facebook. Focusing the organization on the right objectives would be critical; getting the company to perform efficiently against those objectives would be a challenge for Facebook Chief Executive Officer and 21-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg. This case is part of the Stanford Graduate School of Business free case collection (visit www.thecasecentre.org/stanfordfreecases for more information on the collection).
Location:
Industry:
Size:
100 employees, < USD50 million annual gross revenues

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Abstract

In just over two years, Mark Zuckerberg had built the Internet directory service Facebook from nothing more than an idea into a national phenomenon worthy of a reported $750 million buyout offer. The organization had grown from just a few friends programming around a kitchen table to a full-fledged technology business with over 100 employees and 7.4 million users. Zuckerberg would have to develop an organizational strategy that could allow the company to keep up with its underlying growth metrics, while ensuring Facebook's consumer experience was better than its alternative's. The company's core market - college students - was prone to switching, and potential new markets - college students outside the United States and high school students - were rife with well-funded entrants that were a step ahead of Facebook. Focusing the organization on the right objectives would be critical; getting the company to perform efficiently against those objectives would be a challenge for Facebook Chief Executive Officer and 21-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg. This case is part of the Stanford Graduate School of Business free case collection (visit www.thecasecentre.org/stanfordfreecases for more information on the collection).

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Location:
Industry:
Size:
100 employees, < USD50 million annual gross revenues

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