Facebook's Problem is the Management

By  |  Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 9:32 am

Facebook LogoShockwaves were felt throughout Silicon Valley when the social networking site announced that one of its star hires, CFO Gideon Yu, had been fired. Although Facebook claims that it is looking for someone with “public company experience,” (ludicrous because Yu held executive positions with Google (YouTube) and Yahoo), industry insiders say it was very much an inside job.

See, Yu apparently did not care much for Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg–Facebook’s star Google hire–and increasingly was not seeing eye to eye with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to our friend and colleague Kara Swisher. That adds up to a lot of internal infighting, and not a need for a CFO with more experience.

Reportedly, Yu left the company immediately after a meeting, symbolistic of Zuckerberg’s apparent “you’re with me or against me” mentality. But the way Facebook framed the departure is troubling.

Facebook has made it no secret that it would like to go public, and the company is attempting to say letting go of Yu was a step in that direction. That kind of logic is faulty.

Zuckerberg needs to learn if he wants to take his company public that investors do not like turmoil. The revolving door of executives at Facebook will make investors uneasy, and reluctant to invest in the company.

No slight intended at the young CEO, but I think this is where his youth comes as a major negative. Being young myself, I know that sometimes we make judgments more based out of emotion rather than thinking them through first.

I can’t see that Mark’s much different than me. Wisdom does come with age, and I think we learn that sometimes its best to surround yourself with people who may not see eye to eye with you all the time. Keeps your mind open.

Surrounding yourself with “yes men” is never a good thing. I’m beginning to think financing and lack of users will never kill Facebook, it will be the management itself.

 
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14 Comments For This Post

  1. Mark Says:

    I don't think it's an "age thing" exclusively, I know the CEO at the corp where I worked until recently, Landry's Restaurants, surrounded himself with "yes men" (and he's in his late 40's)

  2. CasinoDelSol Says:

    So true, I’m totally agree with you.

  3. Andi Enns Says:

    Great post! Very well put. You should write a guide for young CEOs to run their companies efficiently!

  4. Ohdoctah Says:

    Wisdom comes in all shapes and ages. Zuckie is just full of himself and that makes him weak.

  5. Cris Says:

    Hopefully Mark and the others are listening…

  6. Tim Says:

    Since when is 30 young? You’re like Zuckerberg’s grandpa!

  7. Robert Says:

    So VERY true. One of the best blog posts I’ve read in a while!

  8. Tom B Says:

    The problem with Facebook is the business model; they target teenagers, unlike Linkedin, which targets adults.

  9. Ed Oswald Says:

    Yeah, but the way Mark’s been running things there is not good for a public company. The stock price will tank if it can not keep executives. Look at how the markets reacting to the littlest of news either way these days. People look for a reason to sell, don’t give them one.

  10. Jan Simmonds Says:

    Investors wagging the dog, or Tony Montana losing the plot?

  11. nextleesa Says:

    Interesting comments here… As another point of view though, isn’t business about creating customers?.. Yes, operating capital and profits surely count, but really, customers are the bottom line. Is all of this affecting the masses using Facebook for their social networking? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that side of the coin. Until later 😉 NextLeesa

  12. Brent Harrison Says:

    Interesting angle but alas unless you are one of the primary participants or have direct access to them, it is speculation at best. I don’t follow the logic leap that the departure of a CFO, when replaced by someone more experienced and with IPO experience, is reflective of executive turmoil or a revolving door. @smokejumper (twitter)

  13. SDC Says:

    By all accounts, Sheryl Sandberg is a real horror. Combine that with Zuck’s inexperience and complete lack of personality including presumably a backbone and the idea of FaceBook going public is even more ludicrous than it was yesterday when everybody found out they were Barack Obama’s cousin.

  14. Jeff Paulk Says:

    Facebook sucks out loud! EVERYTIME I get a message from someone wanting me to confirm them as a friend, I can’t do it because there is an error on the page. I can login and click on Confirm 1,000,000 times, but it NEVER works. This has been going on for weeks and weeks, and I get no help from facebook. I know of nobody else with this problem. I have sent facebook the error message and they do nothing. I know this does not pertain to the story here, but contacting facebook is more trouble than it is worth. They have no Contact Us to click on, so they obviously do not want anyone bothering them with the facebook problems that exist. I just hate that people I have not seen in over 30 years may think that I want nothing to do with them when it is the crappy facebook page that will not allow me to confirm them.

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