Time To Freak Out Then Calm Down About The Facebook IPO Again
Mark Cuban argues that Andrew Ross Sorkin’s piece of Facebook’s IPO was well, stupid. It’s probably not surprising that I largely agree since I wrote something similar over three months ago (which itself was riffing off of Joe Nocera’s NYT op-ed, which was one of the first smart things I had read on the IPO).
A lot has happened over those past three months — namely, Facebook’s stock has fallen quite a bit more. It’s fallen so much, in fact, that I did something I haven’t done in years: I bought a public stock. Once Facebook fell below $20, I made the plunge.
But I’m not looking to make a quick buck. Those people who were — including Cuban — got screwed. But as Cuban notes, that was was their own fault (or the fault of their portfolio managers). I’m thinking long-term. I believe Facebook will ultimately be a very good investment for precisely the reason that some people are so up in arms: the company is not about optimizing from a stock perspective, it’s about optimizing itself from a product perspective. If successful, I think the latter will ultimately boost the former. See also: Apple.
Yes, they’re taking some steps to help with the stock market situation. But ultimately, I still believe the company largely doesn’t give a shit. And I think that’s a good thing. Focus on what matters. The product.
94% of workers approve of Zuckerberg’s leadership, compared to an average CEO approval rating of 62%. Facebook’s employee morale rating also hits an astounding 4.7 out of 5.
