Alex may be referring to Zuck's talk two years ago where he spent 99% of his time on stage telling people in the audience how young people are better hires than 'old' people. It was bizarre to say the least.
To be fair, I would imagine the average quality in the pool of 30+ year olds willing to work for Mark Zuckerberg is probably not representative of the age group as a whole, unless they're paid really well.
It was a little more nuanced than that. The point was that young people were willing to take risks because they had little to lose and no responsibilities. He mentioned that (at the time) he slept on a mattress on the floor, so he wouldn't be trapped by possessions and paralyzed by fear of losing everything. People with mortgages and retirement plans are (rationally) conservative, and they won't take big gambles with the company. You have to admire his commitment.
I was there for Zuck's talk in 2006. It was pretty terrible. He came off sounding like an arrogant jerk.
What you are saying is true. But it is unrelated to what is being said. What we're saying is, Zuck needs to drink less of his own kool-aid and start caring about people other than himself. I admire his commitment, but it's a shame that he doesn't recognize, or isn't thankful for, the large amount of luck that played a role in Facebook's success. If he had attacked the problem of "MySpace, but better" at a different school, or in a different way, or any number of things, then Facebook wouldn't be what it is today.
If he's acting like Jobs, he's premature. At least Jobs' company was very profitable in the early days. Also, I just left a company run by a Jobs/Zuckerberg type; good sense of design, but very controlling, and needlessly so. I don't envy Facebook employees. There is more to life than working for the arrogant.
At least Jobs' company was very profitable in the early days.
Brush up on your Apple history. Jobs was fired because he was running his company into a financial mire thanks to his over-the-top idealism.
I don't envy Facebook employees. There is more to life than working for the arrogant.
They chose where to work. Just like Apple employees chose. If you're not the sort of person who works well under a very brilliant, very arrogant man, you're allowed to find other places to work.
