Social Media | Move Fast and Break Things | 3

American Innovations

Wondery

Steven Johnson, History, Kids & Family, Education For Kids, Science

4.6 • 4.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2021

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

By 2007, Facebook finds itself at a crossroads. Its sole focus has been growing its users and traffic. Now, it needs to turn a profit. Luckily for Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook possesses an invaluable asset: deep knowledge of the personal data and habits of its users. But when Zuckerberg teams up with Sheryl Sandberg to monetize that data, it will create a host of issues that will mire Facebook in controversy.

Listen to new episodes 1 week early and ad free, and access exclusive seasons of American Innovations with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/innovations.

Support us by supporting our sponsors!

Peloton - New members can try Peloton classes free for 30 days at onepeloton.com/app. Terms apply.

Monday.com - Visit Monday.com/podcast for your free two-week trial.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to American innovations,
0:03.6	Add Free on Amazon Music.
0:05.5	Download the app today.
0:07.5	Join Wondery Plus to listen to American innovations one week early
0:11.3	and add free in the Wondery app.
0:13.5	Download the Wondery app in your Apple or Google Play mobile app store today.
0:17.7	Fault 2007, Palo Alto, California.
0:29.7	Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer are out for a walk
0:36.0	to discuss a possible deal between their two companies.
0:39.3	At six foot five, Balmer is a tall and intimidating presence.
0:43.9	But the 23 year old Zuckerberg seems unperturbed as he keeps pace with Balmer's massive strides.
0:50.4	So Steve, as you know, we're now at 50 million users.
0:54.8	But I want us to take the next step.
0:57.1	We're getting ready to raise our next round of capital to make that happen.
1:00.4	Balmer nods.
1:01.6	He was expecting this.
1:03.1	What valuation are you raising at?
1:05.0	15 billion.
1:06.3	Balmer's eyes widen.
1:08.0	Even by Microsoft standards, that's a lofty number.
1:11.2	Especially since Facebook is only three and a half years old.
1:14.8	But he's ready to play ball.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Wondery, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Wondery and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.