Business Lessons I Learned From “The Social Network”

BY Nov. 05, 2010 24 Comments


I went to watch “The Social Network” a few weekends ago (about a little site called Facebook), and the movie highlighted some of the struggles of making a company. I took away several lessons that I’d like to share with you.

Note: I  have spoilers so I’m assuming you’ve seen the movie, and I’m only examining the movie characters that happen to be based on real people, and not the real life details of what actually happened.

Choose Your Partner Wisely

The best partners are the ones that strengths are opposite to your own, or they have alot of money. In the case of Facebook founders, Mark Zuckerberg’s social awkwardness was overshadowed by Edaurdo Saverin’s social smoothness.
The partnerships I’ve seen that work well are when a creative person is hooked up with a business oriented person. One handles the creative aspects of the business, and the other cuts the checks, and makes the deals happen. One wears a suit 24/7, and the other thinks it’s casual friday, everyday.

Business is Business

My mentor always tells me “In business, you have no friends, you have no family, so treat all business interactions as such.” Saverin trusted his friend, and didn’t think that he would backstab him as he did, but then again,  he deserved it if he didn’t’ read the contracts carefully.

So always read the contracts, no matter who you’re dealing with.

Choose Your Mentors Wisely

When it comes to business mentors, choose someone related to your field and that has experience in it. You want to get a different/third perspective that’s different from you and your partner. The Facebook founders found Sean Parker, who was an asset in helping navigate Facebook’s growth.

Bad Habits Die Hard

People are creatures of habit, so if they have bad habits, its usually hard to get rid of them. In this case, Mark knew that Napster creator Sean Parker had a history of being a bad boy, but he ignored that fact and let him join the Facebook team. Sean then got caught with cocaine, so Facebook had to let him go.

Stealing is Not Inspiration

There’s a blurry line between stealing and inspiration. Typically, if you hear someone’s idea and you create something similar, but just change the name, then that’s stealing. Lets say your friend tells you he wants to make an application that updates everyone on your list and calls it Twitter. You then go behind his back and make the same thing but call it Chirping. That is stealing.

What are some business lessons you learned that you learned from the movie?

Entrepreneurship, Social Media
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  • TrafficColeman

    I haven’t seen it just yet..But I do got it..I say if you got an idea..you best to run with it or someone else will..first come first serve..that s just the truth of life..

    “TrafficColeman “Signing Off”

    • Giordany

      Well said “…truth of life”… Thanks for commenting.

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  • http://www.thesaleslion.com Marcus Sheridan

    The story of FB is certainly an interesting one, and no doubt there is much to be learned from their example.

    One area I would greatly disagree with you Giordany is where your mentor talks about ‘in business there are no friends.’ Frankly, I think such advice is bonkers. Sure there are people out there that will burn you. At the same rate though, there are other ‘friends’ that just might save you. I’m in business(10 years going) with 2 very good friends. We are incredibly different (which is a big plus as you mention), but we are also great friends. I’ve gone through low points in my life during this time where these ‘friends’ have lifted me out of my funk. I’ve also done the same for them. Friendships and success go hand in hand.

    Just my thoughts, thanks for the article.

    • Giordany

      Yea, my mentor got burned by a sister and a cousin, but in part because he was too trusting of family – at first. However, if you choose your family partners wisely, and take the necessary business precautions, then everything should be groovy. Thanks for commenting.

  • http://www.lavenderuses.com Patricia@lavenderuses

    Hi Giordany

    Firstly just want to say I love your writing style….easy read :-)

    Great points you’ve made too. I have had a couple of people want to partner with me but I resisted as they didn’t fit what I wanted for my blog and eventual home biz.

    I like the way you say choose someone with different strengths. That means I definitely need to choose a techie as that is the area I have no idea about.

    Chirping doesn’t have the same ring as tweeting does it lol

    Patricia Perth Australia

    • Giordany

      Thank you! I try my best to make it smooth reading.

      Yes, choose someone with those valuable techie skills. They’ll save you unnecessary headaches.

  • srinin

    I agree with most of the lessons you have listed. (I have not seen the movie nor am i likely to see it)

    On reading contracts, I beg to disagree. I have seen meticulously drafted contracts protecting every signatory’s rights adequately yet due to the way the legal admn works in India (all related police, attorneys and judiciary) criminally minded men get away knowing the intricacies of the loopholes – not in law – but in execution. Only yesterday we cd not put behind bars a man who cheated me and the rest of the world (and is till cheating many but still employed by a top consulting service company in India)
    So the lessons we need to learn are different in India at least

    • Giordany

      Good point, Bernie Madoff stole from people for years, and I’m sure he signed contracts with his clients. However, in this case, Saverin just signed the contract right away without having a lawyer look at it first. He should have at least done that. Thanks for commenting!

  • Peter J

    That’s awesome, haven’t seen the movie, but i can see that it was well worth it. A lot to be learned from this.

    • Giordany

      Yea, check it out.

  • http://www.megabizflakes.com Samuel

    Awesome post man! Yeah, business is business so don’t let anybody ruin your business. I’m looking forward to watch the film.. :D . Great post once again. Thanks a lot.

    • Giordany

      Thanks Samuel. It’s a good film, but probably only a rental.

  • http://www.earnmoney-fromhome.com/blog2 Bryan

    Hi Giordany,

    I haven’t seen the show yet but I heard its pretty good. I think you’re absolutely right about finding business partners. Find one that can complement you and be the strengths of your weakness.

    I also think there’s a fine line between business partners and friends. It’s always careful to divulge what information you know to your business partner.

    • Giordany

      Yea, two left hands don’t make it right. Better to have a left and right hand to come together to fit nicely.

  • http://www.foursides.ca James M

    It wasn’t very clear that Mark Z was copying Facebook from a different site, in my opinion. The site wasn’t up and running yet (that I know of), so he had nothing to copy from. It seems to me that the two brothers pitched an idea only, and it was left to Mark to create the site from scratch. I’ve been in his position before where someone approaches you to create something, and you start the task only to realize how much work is ahead of you. If that wasn’t bad enough, all the work you do do will most likely be credited completely or partially to the other party. I’m guessing Mark came to the same conclusion I did: why do it for them when I could do it myself and reap the benefits/respect from the work?

    The lesson people should take away from this is: always respect the people doing the important work, and compensate them upfront if possible to keep them in line.

    • Giordany

      Good point James. In copyright, there’s no such thing as stealing an idea, only stealing the process of utilizing the idea. However, if they had gone to court, Mark would probably have lost, and would have been forced to give a portion of Facebook to the brothers, just like the lawyer lady concluded. But you’re right, if they had offered Mark alot of money upfront, he probably would have built it for them. Thanks for commenting.

  • http://www.abnormalmarketing.com Fiona Bosticky

    Great post and great movie. I watched it with an open mind, and I’m glad I did. Everyone in business should see this film. It is really great. As soon as the film finished I was grabbing a pen and paper, and a blog came spilling out of me in about 15 minutes about all the business things I learned from the film. So I really enjoyed reading your point of view as well, and I like your point on choosing mentors wisely. Thanks for sharing Giordany. :)

    • Giordany

      Thanks Fiona. It’s a good film that should be shown in entrepreneurship classes everywhere. Thanks for commenting.

  • http://armandomontelongolive.tv/blog/armando-montelongo-world-series-of-poker-review/ Morgan

    “Business is business”

    YES. I couldn’t agree more. Business begins to falter when things become personal. It is hard to separate personal with business sometimes. Thanks for the article!

  • http://www.dennisedell.com/about Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing

    Hey Giordnany, excellent work.

    Your last paragraph raises a continuous hotly debated topic amongst Internet marketers concerning “intellectual property laws”.

    Quite the philosophical debate as well, not to mention an awesome post topic…wait to see backlinks. ;)

  • http://www.replaceyoursalary.com/work-from-home-blog/about Alan Mater

    Hey Giordany,

    I have seen the movie, and noticed quite the same lessons you have shared here.

    One thing that really stood out to me and wasn’t mentioned here is how the character portraying Mark had a sense of confidence about him. He didn’t care how he dressed or how he approached people or what they even thought of him. He was confident with himself and his ideas, and regardless of his casual attire, he drew in trust from his peers because of that confidence.

    Looking at this from the business angle, it’s important as business owners and entrepreneurs, like Mark, that we instill confidence within ourselves and let that be known to all around us.

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  • http://www.unlimitedtips.com Ayush Chand

    Thanks! Loved that movie :)