My number one piece of advice is: you should learn how to program.
Mark ZuckerbergRead
This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.
Interpretation
Underestimation can be an advantage, allowing for bold risks and impressive achievements.
Mark Zuckerberg reflects on the advantage of being underestimated, suggesting that it provides a unique opportunity for individuals or teams to take significant risks that can lead to remarkable outcomes. This mindset fosters creativity and innovation, as the pressure of expectations is lifted, enabling new ideas and ventures that can surprise and delight others.
In practice
During a motivational speech at a startup conference.
My number one piece of advice is: you should learn how to program.
I literally coded Facebook in my dorm room and launched it from my dorm room. I rented a server for $85 a month, and I funded it by putting an ad on the side, and we've funded ever since by putting ads on the side.
People can be really smart or have skills that are directly applicable, but if they don't really believe in it, then they are not going to really work hard.
Simply put: we don't build services to make money; we make money to build better services.
The question isn't, 'What do we want to know about people?', It's, 'What do people want to tell about themselves?'
Building a mission and building a business go hand in hand. The primary thing that excites me is the mission. But we have always had a healthy understanding that we need to do both.
I've never run into a guy who could win at the top level in anything today and didn't have the right attitude, didn't give it everything he had, at least while he was doing it; wasn't prepared and didn't have the whole program worked out.
No one came to our neighborhoods with stand-up jobs and showed us there's a different way. Maybe, had I seen different role models, maybe I'd've turned on to that.
The market does not beat them. They beat themselves, because though they have brains they cannot sit tight.
People want athletes to cater to their image of what an athlete should be, but they also want them to fail so they can feel like their screwups are all right. If I make a priority shift, I'll make it because it's best for me.
Luck tends to come to people who are prepared.
To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where you're going so that you better understand where you are now and so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.
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