How Facebook Overtook MySpace
- MySpace = King in 2005.
- Facebook = now kicking MySpace's %^@, taking names, and juicing-up one-legged ostriches.
What %$^%$^ happened?
The people happened.
While MySpace focused on maintaining its community, the Facebook management team focused on recruiting the most talented engineers and executives to grow its freakish sleeping giant.
Facebook recruited a revolving door of highly talented Google alumni, the best undergrads available, and top experts within their respective fields.
Facebook brought in:
- Better viral experts
- More efficient programmers
- Stronger usability coders
- More influential public relations teams
- Faster HR personnel
For instance:
- Facebook recruited Sheryl Sandberg, the head of sales at Google.
- Facebook also got Jonathan Heiliger, the former engineering head at Walmart.
- Facebook then recruited David Ebersman, the former CFO and VP of Genentech.
- Facebook got Elliot Schrage, the former PR head at Google.
- etc.
- etc.
- etc.
It became like the New York Yankees vs. the local high school baseball team.
When you have a position filled with better talent than your competitor, you kick your competitor's boo-tay in that position; for example, if you have a better marketing executive, you'll have stronger/smarter/better marketing.
Yet, in Facebook's case, it had Positions A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. filled to the brim with more talented people than its rival.
While MySpace tried to maintain its status quo, the Facebook team invested in a team that would annihilate any social network in its path.
Ultimately, like how Google overtook Yahoo, more talented people will find a way to kick ^%@ of Competitor X in every facet of buisness.
Great, enduring, and thriving businesses fill their organizations with great talent.
The People.
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Posted on November 01