There has never in history been a company quite like Facebook. Its wild scale, its international reach, its years-long user engagement.
They're in entirely uncharted territory. The potential models are numerous and they're not getting any younger. I'm not sure what else they can be expected to do besides try a lot of things. No one else has the opportunity, so why not explore while they still can?
The interesting thing about this observation is that it could equally be applied to older tech companies.
Some notables have strayed far from their origins: Apple (was computers: now also phones), Microsoft (was operating systems: now also phones and search), Oracle (was databases: now also enterprise software and hardware), HP (was calculators: now computers, printers, and consulting), Google (was search: now also phones, social, etc.). These changes all happened post-IPO.
It seems that being desperate to find a business model is not a bad strategy for a tech company.
danilocampos|13 years ago
They're in entirely uncharted territory. The potential models are numerous and they're not getting any younger. I'm not sure what else they can be expected to do besides try a lot of things. No one else has the opportunity, so why not explore while they still can?
runako|13 years ago
Some notables have strayed far from their origins: Apple (was computers: now also phones), Microsoft (was operating systems: now also phones and search), Oracle (was databases: now also enterprise software and hardware), HP (was calculators: now computers, printers, and consulting), Google (was search: now also phones, social, etc.). These changes all happened post-IPO.
It seems that being desperate to find a business model is not a bad strategy for a tech company.