Mark Zuckerberg

I think it was a pretty different technical issue. So, I mean, our legacy was building on web for websites, and we were very used to building one thing and being able to continuously deploy it, and it fits with our iteration style and all that. So now all of a sudden this, like, app model comes along, and it's like we have to build, like, different ones for each phone.

I think it was a pretty different technical issue. So, I mean, our legacy was building on web for websites, and we were very used to building one thing and being able to continuously deploy it, and it fits with our iteration style and all that. So now all of a sudden this, like, app model comes along, and it's like we have to build, like, different ones for each phone.

And you have to go through approval to get it shipped. And we have to wait weeks before it can ship. It's like, this sucks. So we're like, all right, we have an idea. Let's build this platform where we can get a web-based platform. So you basically build a native shell. And you build this web-based platform in it. And we'll be able to just update our apps every day. And we'll ship one thing once.

And you have to go through approval to get it shipped. And we have to wait weeks before it can ship. It's like, this sucks. So we're like, all right, we have an idea. Let's build this platform where we can get a web-based platform. So you basically build a native shell. And you build this web-based platform in it. And we'll be able to just update our apps every day. And we'll ship one thing once.

And we'll update our apps across Android and iPhone. Blackberry and Windows Mobile and all the stuff that existed at the time because it hadn't gotten consolidated yet. And we're like, basically, whatever downside we are going to have from not having the most native thing, we're going to make up for in velocity and by having way more of our energy focused on one platform. Well, we were wrong.

And we'll update our apps across Android and iPhone. Blackberry and Windows Mobile and all the stuff that existed at the time because it hadn't gotten consolidated yet. And we're like, basically, whatever downside we are going to have from not having the most native thing, we're going to make up for in velocity and by having way more of our energy focused on one platform. Well, we were wrong.

It turned out that having the native integration was actually critical for having the interactions feel good. So we basically went through this period where we had to go rewrite our apps from scratch. And that coincided with mobile growing dramatically. And mobile, we didn't have any revenue. Because it may seem like it's pretty similar, but there's a very big difference.

It turned out that having the native integration was actually critical for having the interactions feel good. So we basically went through this period where we had to go rewrite our apps from scratch. And that coincided with mobile growing dramatically. And mobile, we didn't have any revenue. Because it may seem like it's pretty similar, but there's a very big difference.

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, 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, 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.