Access Ventures

It is strange to watch Social Network, the movie of Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich.  The movie was entertaining if not also filled with some mistaken narratives.  

One element that stands to be corrected is Mark Zuckerberg's opposition to advertising on the Facebook network.   I don't recall such hesitation, in fact our company at the time Y2M - Youth Media and Marketing Network - executed an exclusive sales organization representation agreement with Facebook.   I recently found the original agreements - the first executed by Eduardo Saverin and referenced in the book on Pages 175 and 178 and amended in March of 2005.  

The reality was selling advertising on Facebook was difficult to begin with.  The Facebook network was not national and only represented certain "closed" campuses.   Though Facebook's adoption rate and expansion quickly surpassed the Y2M Network of 600 College student newspapers, the advertising revenues did not catch up for a good 18 months.    In my view, the faith that investors had in Facebook and the patience they had in determining the correct way to generate income for the business is one of the great missing stories.     It took faith that I clearly didn't have to invest in such an idea.   The rewards are now well documented, but being there at the start reminds me that even the most successful ventures seldom follow straight line towards financial success.