Facebook investors: you have been warned. The last time I was in Silicon Valley was 12 years ago, in the very week that the Nasdaq crashed, marking the end of the dotcom boom. That I should fly back into San Francisco on the eve of the social network’s initial public offering cannot be a good omen.
I’m not here to write about Facebook – for expert insights, read the analysis of my San Francisco-based colleagues or the FT Lex team – but the IPO overshadows most discussions. What strikes me is how entrepreneurs, technology executives and analysts I’ve met are reluctant to talk publicly about Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ask them what they think about him and they tend to preface their remarks with a polite request that this part of the interview should be off the record.
Not that the ensuing comments are that critical. Only one person I’ve met has expressed much doubt about Mr Zuckerberg’s achievements. This person placed the Facebook founder on the dark side of the debate over social networks and privacy (which on Tuesday came into my hotel, where a flashmob protesting about Facebook gathered). Most of the younger entrepreneurs seem to be admirers of “Mark”, as they all call him – “he’s done a phenomenal job”, agreed one.
There may in a few cases be regulatory reasons for not commenting on the forthcoming IPO. But I put the coyness down to simple self-interest. Of course, many entrepreneurs would like to emulate Facebook’s success. But increasingly, given the number of start-ups playing in the area where social networks and mobile computing overlap, the destiny of their own businesses is entwined with the fate of the social network. It makes sense, under the circumstances, not to deliver a public verdict on Mr Zuckerberg or his ubiquitous creation.
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