[melling]

Sigh, you've overlooked the fact that he built a hugely profitable business so now he can now throw money into "building the future". AI, VR, etc.

Google was probably the 20th search engine. They make most of their money selling ads.

Microsoft just rebuilt CP/M and bought many of their big apps.

It's what you do after you build a great business that matters.

[nostromo]

Making gobs of money and making the future are orthogonal though.

Exxon makes tons of money but is likely irrelevant to the future.

[melling]

"It's what you do after you build a great business that matters"

[dkarapetyan]

Why's that? Why not just skip the business step entirely? There is some kind of fallacy in your argument.

[melling]

How are you going to pay for all those moonshot projects that cost billions and might not make money for a decade, if ever. Google still hasn't made any money on the self-driving car. Oculus Rift?

[dkarapetyan]

I don't think Oculus Rift is going anywhere. They bungled that project pretty well. My question was more about your assumption about getting some kind of cash cow and then milking it to provide for "moonshots". It is one model that works but it's not the only one. Well, actually, it's debatable whether it works or not.

[melling]

What you think about Oculus is irrelevant. FB has the money to see it through, along with dozens of other similar projects. Feel free to explain the other models.

[davidivadavid]

Providing cheap energy to whole economies probably plays a (major) role in building the future.

[dkarapetyan]

I don't have anything against building what people want or re-packaging what existed already in better ways. My issue was with the title. I don't doubt for a second that Zuckerberg is a great business mind but building the future requires a bit more than business acumen.

[mpbm]

I think with business acumen you can hire all the "more" you need.