[nashashmi]

The points you illustrated is part of what I think caused Zuckerberg to lose control: hyper growth, fast money, an emerging market of personalized ad tracking. Sandberg being the more experienced manager steered the company well enough during this time but in a direction that I don’t think Zuckerberg felt at home with. Hence This red book was a way to bring back some of his spirits.

I also think so much potential for political influence had a weight on facebook but was not in the roadmap from Zuck’s POV. But it surely was for Sandberg because she had already been at Google witnessing the power of influence. Her husband’s own successes with SurveyMonkey emphasized some of that. This success+money+potential+(emerging ad tech) for facebook combined with a young startup spirit led to many scenarios that young Zuck was not prepared for. It definitely steered the company away from its founding vision. The company was suddenly infused with professionals that did not embody the spirit. And Zuck was quietly observing during this period.

Today, he looks around FB and says that things need to change. “And if people are not happy about this, then I am ok with them finding something else.” (i am paraphrasing).

Zuck has doubled down on a different vision now: Oculus VR. It seems his desire for FB social networking has plateau’d.