Mark Zuckerberg

On desktop, you basically have the app, and you have a column on the side that we could put ads. And on mobile, we needed to figure out what does it mean to put ads into the experience?

On desktop, you basically have the app, and you have a column on the side that we could put ads. And on mobile, we needed to figure out what does it mean to put ads into the experience?

Yeah, that was something that the team did. Yeah, and advertisers have specific formats that they like working with, and the idea that we were just going to be like, all right, now your ad is going to look like a feed story was a big challenge for advertisers.

Yeah, that was something that the team did. Yeah, and advertisers have specific formats that they like working with, and the idea that we were just going to be like, all right, now your ad is going to look like a feed story was a big challenge for advertisers.

And the idea that now for people, you were going to have this organic feed that was the most important part of the product, and now we're just going to start putting ads in it was a challenge for the people using the product. We needed to figure that out, and we needed to get the apps to be better. And we basically took, I think it must have been like a year or something.

And the idea that now for people, you were going to have this organic feed that was the most important part of the product, and now we're just going to start putting ads in it was a challenge for the people using the product. We needed to figure that out, and we needed to get the apps to be better. And we basically took, I think it must have been like a year or something.

We were just like, look, we're going to pause feature development of the company because it's hard enough to do a rewrite. If you look at the history of the tech industry, there are all these examples like Netscape and all these things that they tried to do a rewrite. They needed to reestablish their technical platform, and they also tried to add features. They basically just never terminated.

We were just like, look, we're going to pause feature development of the company because it's hard enough to do a rewrite. If you look at the history of the tech industry, there are all these examples like Netscape and all these things that they tried to do a rewrite. They needed to reestablish their technical platform, and they also tried to add features. They basically just never terminated.

So that's a real risk when you're completely changing your underlying platform that you're going to miss it. I was like, all right, we've got to minimize the chance that that happens. So we're not going to ship any new features. We're just going to rewrite it, make it faster. But while we're doing this, basically mobile is growing. So the percent of our traffic that is monetizable

So that's a real risk when you're completely changing your underlying platform that you're going to miss it. I was like, all right, we've got to minimize the chance that that happens. So we're not going to ship any new features. We're just going to rewrite it, make it faster. But while we're doing this, basically mobile is growing. So the percent of our traffic that is monetizable

is shrinking, because web is basically shrinking and mobile's growing.

is shrinking, because web is basically shrinking and mobile's growing.

Yeah, and I was like, all right.

Yeah, and I was like, all right.

The thing is, it was actually pretty clear what we needed to do. I think strategically, a lot of the time, it's somewhat harder to know what to do when you're winning. When stuff is going well, it's like, what is the next move to go from winning to winning more? But when you're losing, it's usually pretty clear what you have to do.

The thing is, it was actually pretty clear what we needed to do. I think strategically, a lot of the time, it's somewhat harder to know what to do when you're winning. When stuff is going well, it's like, what is the next move to go from winning to winning more? But when you're losing, it's usually pretty clear what you have to do.

And I think a lot of it is just, do you have the pain tolerance to go do it? So a lot of this was like, all right, the team was like, OK. well, we're going public and investors really aren't going to like this if we are not making money for a year and a half. And it's like, well, a year and a half is short in the grand scheme of things. Let's do this. And we did it.

And I think a lot of it is just, do you have the pain tolerance to go do it? So a lot of this was like, all right, the team was like, OK. well, we're going public and investors really aren't going to like this if we are not making money for a year and a half. And it's like, well, a year and a half is short in the grand scheme of things. Let's do this. And we did it.

And it was a painful year and a half. And then we came out of that and we were in great shape. So I think people inside the company had felt a lot better sooner because it was pretty clear to people that we were doing the right thing. And they knew that we were executing in a responsible way and basically focused and we're doing the right thing.

And it was a painful year and a half. And then we came out of that and we were in great shape. So I think people inside the company had felt a lot better sooner because it was pretty clear to people that we were doing the right thing. And they knew that we were executing in a responsible way and basically focused and we're doing the right thing.