The success of several ventures is contingent on many factors. The adherence to these factors is a deliberate determinant to among other things the productivity of a venture which in turn affects success. This understanding is a clear indicator of the existence of success factors. Success factors are the quantifiable variables that bear an effect on the success or failure of a venture. There are several success factors, and this paper seeks to provide a deeper understanding of what success factors are. To expound on the matter, the paper uses the story of the fifth richest person on Earth as a case study. The paper shall cover some of the subject’s key success factors and ultimately provide a personal insight as to which of the mentioned factors I would love to emulate.
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is a thirty-three-year-old computer programmer and internet entrepreneur perhaps renowned as a co-founder of Facebook which he currently serves as the chairperson and chief executive officer (CEO). The young American is the fifth wealthiest individual on the globe with an outstanding estimated net worth of US $74.2 billion as of November 2017. The untold success story of Facebook and Zuckerberg since the launch of the social media platform on 4th of February 2004 is a clear indicator of something special about the company’s founder particularly with regard to investment acumen. The secrets to the exploits of great men lie in their stories, and with Zuckerberg, the case is anything but different.
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The first and perhaps key success factor to Zuckerberg is his passion. Desire is often considered the difference between impossibility and possibility and thus lies at the heart of every true success story. Passion towards any task helps to improve focus, stir curiosity, and ultimately encourage innovation. Mark always had a deep passion for computer programming and software development as is evident from his early ages. Jose Antonio Vargas, a renowned writer, claims that Mark’s intrigues with software development date back to his early years when he started to write computer games based on drawings made by his friends (Zuckerberg, 2016, p. 55). Additionally, it has been claimed that Mark has always sought out ways of making human communication easier and more convenient as is evident from the fact that it has been claimed that Mark made his own computer program her referred to as Zucknet which connected the computers from his home to his father’s dentist office. The program bore an uncanny resemblance to AOL’s Instant Messenger which was released a year after Mark supposedly made his Zucknet (Zuckerberg, 2016, p. 56). Mark’s undeniable passion for software engineering and his love for bridging the communication lines helped to fuel the pursuit in the field that ultimately culminated in the existence of Facebook and Zuckerberg’s success story.
In addition to passion Zuckerberg’s success is in part due to exceptional foresight. The launch of Facebook marked a fundamental turning point with regards to global connectivity and the birth of social media platform as integral parts of human life ( Wolski, 2015) . Despite the fact that it has often been cited that Facebook is a result of venting exercise by Mark when he launched the original version of the site under the name Facesmash ( Guerra-Pujol, 2016). Its subsequent launch after the realization that the site would serve a direly needed commodity is a sign of foresight. Mark anticipated and hugely influenced the prevalence of the online generation with his site and venture, and it earned him untold success. Mark has been quoted saying that a few days after he had dropped out of school to concentrate on the establishment of the project that ultimately led to the existence of Facebook that he thought that someone ought to create a service like the one he had done for the world (Zuckerberg & Sharon, 2015).
Another key success factor for Mark Zuckerberg is his impeccable decision-making skills. The steady growth in his net worth and success of his undertakings is a clear depiction of excellent decision-making skills. A great example is the decision to drop out of Harvard in his sophomore years to concentrate on the establishment of Facebook which is the key contributor to his massive wealth. Additionally, the purchase of Whatsapp whose popularity was threatening that of Facebook is another depiction of his impeccable decision-making skills ( Albergotti, MacMillan & Rusli, 2014) . The purchase aimed to eradicate any threat from Whatsapp to Facebook’s advertising revenue in case Whatsapp ever decided to offer advertisement services.
There are other key success factors evident in the success of Mark Zuckerberg such as hard work in addition to the ones as mentioned earlier. However, there are several that I would love to emulate in my business. First, passion is an integral success factor in business ventures as it acts as a fuel for innovation and thus its emulation into my business is important. Hard work is a critical success factor factoring that for every action there is an equally measurable and deliverable reaction. Hard work often boosts productivity which leads to increased revenues and thus it is a critical success factor to emulate.
References
Albergotti, R., MacMillan, D., & Rusli, E. M. (2014). Facebook to Pay $19 Billion for WhatsApp. The Wall Street Journal.
Guerra-Pujol, E. (2016). Facebook 101.
Wolski, K., 2015. How to effectively promote universities and research institutes in the network? Psychological mechanisms of e-marketing effectiveness. Marketing Instytucji Naukowych i Badawczych , (2 (16)), pp.67-90.
Zuckerberg, M. E., & Sharon, E. M. (2015). U.S. Patent No. D736,814 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Zuckerberg, M. (2016). Mark Zuckerberg . AV2 by Weigl.
