My thoughts on The Social Network

This January, I was in San Francisco and attended the Crunchies, the start-up world’s equivalent to the Oscars. If you didn’t have your elevator pitch down for your new revolutionary business or if you weren’t someone who could fund it, you weren’t worth talking to. It was like being in a genius version of Hollywood. And when Mark Zuckerberg walked into the room, he was mobbed.

I was curious then to see the Social Network. Aaron Sorkin was right – it’s not about Facebook but it is very much about the dos and don’ts of start-ups which Facebook was. What struck me as I left the theatre was that without Eduardo, there wouldn’t have been Facebook. I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs working on new ideas and what makes or breaks them is money. It’s not enough to just have a good idea anymore and I may argue that it may never have been. Weekends in the UK are raft with barcamps and hack days and events such as Seedcamp or Launch 48 where entrepreneurs try to work on that next big idea hoping to get just enough money or kudos or contacts to get started.

And when this does happen, you can expect that, like the Social Network portrayed, someone who suggested changing the brand colours or gave advice over coffee one day will expect a piece of it. They’ll say they were one of the founders thinking that providing a name for something equates beginning your day waking up with your phone in your hand and ending it falling asleep while still typing. That takes love and dedication and probably a small dose of crazy. And money.

That’s the world of Mark Zuckerberg. And though he was one of the lucky ones to get funds to start up, he could have easily not been. He could have been one of the many brilliant entrepreneurs who go from event to event hoping to get their break. Maybe there is the next Zuckerberg already in our midst but without a trusty friend to invest, his Facebook will stay in his head and we’ll be stuck with the next Harvard Connect instead.