Facebook Doesn’t Look at Profits the Way other Companies Do

Image from: WSJ

A good example of a “mission driven organization” is Facebook. Even though Facebook is growing big (52% in 2015) and earning a lot of money (44% operating margins), money is not the sole motivating factor for Facebook, but its mission to make the world more open and connected. Hang around Facebook executives enough, and you’ll learn that cynical business questions about money are best phrased in terms of “user experience” and the mission.

Below is Fortune’s Coverage on Facebook’s year-end earnings call and how Mark Zuckerberg responded on his “Mission trumps money” stand at Facebook.

In Facebook’s year-end earnings call, held Wednesday night, Zuckerberg closed his prepared remarks with some high-minded mission talk about how his newborn daughter has made him think about the legacy his company will leave to the next generation. “If we continue to focus on solving the fundamental challenges facing the world, and bringing the world closer together, we can leave a better world for the next generation,” he proclaimed.

I’m guessing the analysts heard that and thought: “Sure, whatever you want. Just keep growing revenue by 52% with 44% margins and we’ll keep trading your stock up.”

But toward the end of the call, an analyst made the business question mistake. He referred to a “billion-dollar conversation” that Zuckerberg had had years ago with Facebook’s engineers about the company’s slow shift to mobile. With that in mind, the analyst asked, has Zuckerberg had that conversation about Facebook’s messaging platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger?

The question set Zuckerberg off on a long, corrective explanation that can double as a helpful look into how Facebook thinks about making money from its popular Internet services. It also shows how Facebook went from falling behind in mobile to making 80% of its revenue there and coming to dominate the category.

The short version is “Mission trumps money” at Facebook. (Lucky for the company so far, the money has been pretty good.) Here’s Zuckerberg’s answer:

I think you have it wrong. I don’t know where you got that story from. I never had a conversation with the engineering team, where we were behind on mobile and I said, “We need to do this to make money.” That’s not really how we operate.

What happened was we realized mobile was growing faster than desktop and people were shifting their usage. It was the more important thing for people’s consumer experience. That’s when we made the shift. Not in our business first, but in how we developed the products.

I told all of our product teams, when they come in for reviews: “Come in with mobile. If you come in and try to show me a desktop product, I’m going to kick you out. You have to come in and show me a mobile product.” That was a crude leadership tactic—somewhat effective—in helping to motivate the organization to shift its energy toward focusing on mobile.

But if you remember, we actually went through a tough period where our mobile experience was not as good as we wanted it to be and we had no ads on mobile. We prioritized making the experience good before putting ads in.

That’s how we think about messaging. We know messaging is going to be increasingly important. That’s why we hired David Marcus [Facebook’s vice president of messaging products]… and why we bought WhatsApp.

We have a formula for how we build these businesses: First you build a great consumer experience that helps people share in a new way. That’s really important. Then, after that, you can start to introduce organic ways that people can interact with businesses.

So far, this strategy has worked well for ads on Facebook. It has also worked well for video, which is beginning to make money from ads, and for Instagram, which analysts predict will bring in over $3 billion in revenue this year. Soon Facebook will begin to make money from Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, which have a respective 800 million and 1 billion monthly active users. As roundabout as it may seem, Facebook’s mission-driven approach works—the proof is in the profits.

Remote House: A Stylish Mobile Sustainable Home

Would you believe that this mobile home is just assembled in less than 60 hours? This stylish home designed by Felipe Assadi. The one-level shelter is made from wood, iron and glazed front and back facades. The stylish prototype is currently parked overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the remote Pichicuy area, but can be anchored just about anywhere in the world.

Imagine if these houses get scaled out? We can design our house in front of our computers just combining different design elements with just a few clicks. This innovation can even make it easier and affordable to purchase a home.

Read more: Remote House is a sustainable modular home that can be anchored anywhere in the world | Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Your Startup Toolbox

Launching a startup is now becoming a common trend all over the globe. We see successful startups such as Airbnb, Uber, Warby Parker, Jet.com, and many others who have grown to be successful in their own right. These startups did not become successful overnight, they went through challenges to get to where they are now. To help you on your start up journey this site provides you with the tools you need:

Startup Stash

Startupstash.com Front Page

Startup stash provides you the things your startup needs from idea generation, naming, design, website hosting and many more.

Hope you find this useful in your startup journey.

Airbnb’s First Pitch Deck

Photo from Forbes.com

Before Airbnb became the $20B company that it is today it was a concept pitched to investors like most startups. For aspiring entrepreneurs out there who dream of transforming their very own ideas into actual businesses here is their first pitch deck.

Photo from business insider

Their pitch was pretty simple and straightforward. They were able to identify the problem the ff:

1. Problem
2. Solution
3. Market Size
4. Business Model
5. Competitors
6. Advantages

This is a very simple yet very effective flow in presenting or analyzing a viability of a business.

See the entire Airbnb pitch deck here.

Elon Musk’s Solution to Range Anxiety in Electric Cars

Photo from Business Insider

One of the biggest problems for electric cars is how to maximize your trip on a single charge. It raises questions on what route should you take and if your destination has a nearby Supercharger or charging station?

This week Elon Musk tweeted that “Range Anxiety” will be a thing of the past.

The car will have a range assurance application which makes it impossible to run out of range with the Model S sedans  and a trip planner a feature which optimizes long distance trips for drivers. Basically as Musk Said, “It’s a big network of Superchargers communicating with a big network of cars,” “This has never happened before.”

There are a lot more cool features that they are planning to release for Model S and there seems to be no stopping Elon Musk, We might see Tesla cars with Auto-steering features soon.

“Most cars don’t improve over time,” he said. “But the Model S does get faster, smarter, and better as time passes. The car gets better as you sleep. When you wake up, it’s like driving a new car.”

We can’t wait for Musk’s next announcement.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/here-comes-elon-musks-announcement-about-ending-tesla-range-anxiety-2015-3#ixzz3V249tMZo

A New Dove Campaign Against Negativity

Sometimes the our harshest critics can be ourselves. The Dove spot features conversations between two women chatting in a cafe. One is berating the other’s physical appearance in such a brutal way it is toe-curlingly awful to witness. Women sitting close enough to overhear are appalled.

Picture from facebook.com/DovePH

Despite much of the rest of the planet viewing French women as effortlessly stylish and beautiful, it turns out that only 10% have positive thoughts about their own beauty, according to Dove’s research. In fact, like everyone else, they are highly self-critical and Dove says this film is intended to “showcase their thoughts” with a view to helping women rethink how they talk to themselves. In line with International Women’s Day this spot shows that feeling good is not all about looks. It starts on how you see and treat yourself. Surround yourself with positivity and it starts with #OneBeautifulThought at a time. Visit the International Women’s Day Site here.

9 Year Old Starts a Teeth-Friendly Lollipop Company

Image credit: Courtesy Zollipops

You can never be too old nor too young to start a business, 9 year-old Alina Morse started her own healthy lollipop company, Zollipops. She came up with the idea to help make a difference for moms and kids by making kids enjoy their sweets without parents needing to worry for the next trip to the dentist. Zollipops is now available in Whole Foods as read in her interview with Entrepreneur.com: 9-Year Old Entrepreneur Launches Teeth-Friendly Lollipop Company.

This goes to show that entrepreneurship is for those who have the drive to pursue it. They have a sense of purpose in their lives and have a goal to make a difference in this world.

Quest for a New Organic Baby Formula

The Honest Company, Jessica Alba (Founder)

Christopher Gavigan, chief product officer for The Honest Company has now the chance to develop and share an alternative infant formulation for mothers who can’t breastfeed. On Feb. 18, The Honest Company, which he co-founded with actress Jessica Alba in 2011, launched a line of organic feeding products that finally meet Gavigan’s standards.

Their goal is to formulate a product with organic, pure ingredients that were nutritionally complete and gentle, and which was transparent about where those ingredients came from. The Honest Company eventually developed contains all of the nutrients formula needs but boasts organic milk and no high-fructose corn syrup, steroids, gluten, or artificial growth hormones. They are trying to create a sustainable solution in answering the need to create an alternative infant formulation while using organic ingredients which they believe is very superior versus the artificial ingredients currently used in the available formulations to date. This is only the beginning and Gavigan and Alba will further develop and reinvent the baby feeding category.

Read more here: The 7-Year Quest Behind The Honest Company’s New Baby Formula

The Perfect Himig Handog Song

This year’s Himig Handog 2014 features a fresh list of talented song writers who poured out their emotions in writing these heart-warming songs. Their compositions are interpreted and sang by celebrity counterparts who do their best to capture the essence of the writer’s songs.

However there’s a contestant that stands out. Hazel Faith dela Cruz is the name that pops out from the list. She’s the only contestant who wrote her song and at the same time she is the one who will be singing it in front of thousands of people in Araneta Coliseum this coming September 28, 2014 in the culminating event of Himig Handog 2014.

Having the opportunity to write your own song and getting the chance to share and sing it will truly show the genuine essence of an your work. This year we are treated to have a contestant who will be able to do that. Listen to her single, “Everything Takes Time.”

Let us support this up and coming artist. You can vote for her song here:

http://himighandog.abs-cbn.com/

This Ad by Nike Highlights The Pinoy’s Heart for Basketball

The Philippine team’s recent games in the FIBA 2014 World Cup has shown the world what “PUSO” means in the Philippines. The way Gilas Pilipinas plays every night embodies this trait found in every Pinoy. The trait that shows no matter what the odds are the Filipinos will always give it their all in every situation.

This video was shared online in the Nike Philippines’ facebook page last August 30. It’s hashtag is very timely this FIBA World Cup #PlayPinoy.

Watch the video below: