Entrepreneurship and Innovation: A Case Study of Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook

This report discusses the concept of entrepreneurship and the role of innovative ideas in business ventures. It analyzes the personal attributes and professional undertakings of entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg and his development of Facebook. The report sheds light on Zuckerberg's personality, personal approach, business services and market, opportunity identification and commercialization.

Running head: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
This report will discuss about the concept of entrepreneurship and the role of the innovative
ideas in the business ventures established by them. It is generally seen that the various
entrepreneurs take the help of diverse kinds of innovative ideas for the process of the
establishment of their business ventures. This report will shed light on the entrepreneur Mark
Zuckerberg and his development of Facebook. The report will begin by introducing the
personal attributes of Zuckerberg which helped him to create his business venture and also to
develop his innovative business idea. Furthermore, the report will also discuss about the
personality and the personal approaches of Zuckerberg and the role which they played in his
success. The report will conclude with a discussion of the business service as well as market
of Facebook and also the identification of the business idea and its commercialization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg: Main Attributes..................................................................................3
Personality and Personal Approach...........................................................................................5
Business services and market.....................................................................................................6
Opportunity identification and commercialization....................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The changing business climate of the world has made it imperative for the various
business enterprises to not only “think out of the box” but at the same time to take the help of
various kinds of innovative strategies and ideas for the sustainability of their business (Dees,
2017). It is here that the role of the various entrepreneurs as well as the process of
entrepreneurship itself becomes very important. Entrepreneurship can be defined as the
process of establishing a business venture and at the same time to undertake financial risks
with the latent hope to gain significant amount of profit (Drucker, 2014). Furthermore, the
entrepreneurs are the individuals who establish their own business ventures with the help of
innovative or “out of the box” business ideas. It is significant to note that the term
“innovative idea” is generally associated with the kind of ideas which are totally new as well
as revolutionary (Kuratko, 2016). However, in reality it is generally seen that the innovative
business ideas utilized by the various entrepreneurs are not necessarily new or revolutionary
rather they are mostly some modifications of the older ones with diverse amendments made
to them to fulfill the requirements of the present day business world (Kuratko, 2016). This
report will analyze the correlation between the process of entrepreneurship and innovation
through the personal attributes as well as professional undertakings of the entrepreneur Mark
Elliot Zuckerberg.
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg: Main Attributes
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, famous as the cofounder of the social networking website
“Facebook”, is an “an American technology entrepreneur” who was born in the year 1984 in
New York, USA (Wong, 2018). He is also one of the most popular philanthropists of the
world and has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth for the cause of charity (Clifford, 2018).
Alongside Facebook he also developed various other kinds of software which has helped to

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revolutionize the technological landscape of the world in a significant manner. In the year
2010 the magazine “Vanity Fair” ranked him as the 10th most influential person of the world
(Clifford, 2018). As per an estimate of 2018, the total amount of wealth owned by him is
approximately $66 billion and he is also among the top 10 richest people of the world
(Clifford, 2018). It is interesting to note that he is one of the youngest individuals among the
richest persons of the world (Forbes, 2018). Presently he is working as the Chief Executive
Officer of Facebook (Forbes, 2018).
The personal attributes of the character of Zuckerberg is generally regarded as one of
the major reasons for the success gained not only by the social networking website Facebook
but also by Zuckerberg himself. Zuckerberg since his early childhood has shown leadership
traits and as a matter of fact he was the captain of several sports in the schools and colleges in
which he studied (Niebuhr et al., 2016). Furthermore, since an early age he was interested in
programming and it is significant to note that before even joining Harvard for his advanced
studies he was already marked as a programming prodigy with a bright future (Niebuhr et al.,
2016). Moreover, his vision is effectively showcased in his talent to turn the simple concept
of picture books or the so called face books into probably the best social networking website
of the present era. He himself admitted that “We had books called Face Books, which
included the names and pictures of everyone who lived in the student dorms. At first, he built
a site and placed pictures of two males and two females. Visitors to the site had to choose
who was hotter and according to the votes there would be a ranking” (Business Insider,
2018). Zuckerberg has always been concerned with the concept of ethics and it is a reflection
of this particular fact that even though he got various offers from some of the most reputed
business enterprises of the world he refused to do because of the fact that he was not sure
how these enterprises were going to utilize the technology created by him (Business Insider,
2018). The main purpose of Zuckerberg behind the development of his innovation called

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Facebook was in his own words “The thing I really care about is the mission, making the
world open” (Business Insider, 2018). In addition to all these, the integrity of his character
and his personal determination to make the world a better place for the future generations
also helped him in a significant manner to transform a small innovation which was developed
in the dormitory of the Harvard into the present day social networking giant Facebook.
Personality and Personal Approach
Personality as well as the personal approaches taken by an entrepreneur is directly
related to the success or the failure of the business venture undertaken by that particular
entrepreneur (Kazanjian, Drazin & Glynn, 2017). Many experts are of the viewpoint that the
entrepreneurs are related to have various kinds of personality traits like integrity of character,
effective leadership traits, a passion for the business venture or the innovative idea on which
they have modeled their business venture and others (Kazanjian, Drazin & Glynn, 2017). It
is significant to note that when a close analysis of the personality of Zuckerberg in
undertaken it is revealed that his personality consists of most of the above mentioned traits
which have helped him in a significant manner to attain the level of success that he has at the
current moment. The compassion of Zuckerberg for his innovative business idea is clearly
revealed in the ardent as well as sincere hard work with which he has transformed the two-
member Harvard dormitory group into the most widely social networking website of the
world (Niebuhr et al., 2016). It is significant to note that since the development of the
innovation of the social network website in Harvard he has been subjected to various kinds of
harsh critical remarks and some people have even gone on to the extent of saying that he is
infringing on the personal life as well as the data of the individuals from the different part of
the world in a manner which is completely unethical (Niebuhr et al., 2016). However, inspite
of all this criticisms and negative comments he has been able to built a successful billion

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business venture and his entire life is perhaps best summarized in the words of Sorkin, who
received the “Golden Globe Award for Best Picture on January 16, 2011” when he said that
“I wanted to say to Mark Zuckerberg tonight, if you're watching, Rooney Mara's character
makes a prediction at the beginning of the movie. She was wrong. You turned out to be a
great entrepreneur, a visionary, and an incredible altruist” (Wong, 2018).
The personal approach taken by Zuckerberg for the growth of his innovative idea as
well as the leadership style adopted by him is very different from the ones adopted by the
other entrepreneurs of the present generation. It is significant to note that whereas most of the
entrepreneurs try to follow the situational style of leadership or the transformational style or
the other kinds of leadership styles which are most suitable to the requirements of their
business. Zuckerberg, on the other hand, rather than following any specific style of leadership
follows the policy of leading by example (Wong, 2018). It is a reflection of this particular
fact that the majority of the codes on which the social networking website Facebook operates
has been designed by Zuckerberg himself and in addition to this inspite of being the
cofounder of Facebook he is currently working as the CEO of the organization with the
objective to oversee the affairs of the business in a much more better manner (Wong, 2018).
Thus, it would be apt that these aspects of the character and the personality of Zuckerberg
have contributed in a significant manner towards the success attained not only by him but
also by his brainchild Facebook.
Business services and market
Most of the business enterprises of the world provide either some kind of tangible
products to the customers from the different parts of the world but some kind of intangible
services to the customers. However, Facebook is unique in this regard since it not only
provide a gateway through which the people from different parts of the world can

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meaningfully utilize their leisure time but at the same time communicate with friends as well
as family members from different parts of the world (Clifford, 2018). In addition to this, it is
seen that the social networking website under discussion here is used for various kinds of
marketing as well as promotional purposes and at the same time to enhance their brand image
as well (Clifford, 2018). Furthermore, in the recent world of e-commerce it is also seen that
Facebook is utilized by the various business enterprises to influence the buying behavior of
the customers. Facebook has a wide market and people from almost all the nations of the
world actively take the help of the social networking services provided by the concerned
website. Furthermore, as per an estimate of 2018 Facebook has more than 2.23 billion active
users from the different nations of the world which is equivalent to more than half of the
population of the world (Business Insider, 2018). Thus, it would be apt to say that the
services provided by Facebook enjoy a global market.
Opportunity identification and commercialization
The initial idea for the social networking website Facebook was developed by
Zuckerberg at the Harvard itself while he was still a student. The original idea for the social
networking website under discussion here was developed by Zuckerberg as a prank to get the
rating for the hottest boy and girl of Harvard. However, the educational institution within the
time period of just one week forced him to shut down the application. He soon came up a
better option wherein he created a platform where all the students of Harvard were able to
interact with each other for their study related purposes and they could at the same time form
their study groups. This particular model is generally considered to be the prototype of the
present day Facebook. He soon dropped out of Harvard and developed a more concrete
version of the same application wherein students from educational institutions of the nation
were able to join and interact with each other. It is significant to note that by the year 2012

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the website developed by Zuckerberg had more than 500 million users (Business Insider,
2018). During this time he got offers from various reputed organization which wished to buy
the innovation developed however he was not sure about the manner in which they would
utilize the innovation developed by him. Furthermore, he was driven by the altruistic desire
of creating a world wherein people from the different parts of the world would be able to
interact with each in a free manner. It is a reflection of this particular fact that inspite of being
a popular social networking website and having more than 500 million student users from the
different parts of the nation he went global as late as 2012 (Business Insider, 2018). Thus, it
would be apt to say that Zuckerberg was quick to realize the opportunity which was provided
to him by the inherent desire of the people to interact with their friends as well as family
members from the different parts of the world.
The process of commercialization thus began very late with Facebook and even today
in the year 2018 the percentage of advertisements allowed by Facebook over their website is
only 10% in comparison to the 20% allowed by the other social networking websites
(Clifford, 2018). Furthermore, it was only as late as 2015 that the website allowed the various
business enterprises of the world to use the website for promotional as well as marketing
purposes (Clifford, 2018). Therefore, it would be appropriate to say that although Zuckerberg
was quick to develop his innovation as well as successfully transform it into a profitable
business venture in the early part of his career yet the process of commercialization was
undertaken very late by him.
Conclusion
To conclude, the various entrepreneurs have become an indispensible part of the
business world on the score of the numerous entrepreneurial business ventures which have
become an important part of the business world. It is generally seen that these entrepreneurs

9ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
take the help of the process of innovation and try to establish their business ventures on the
basis of these innovative business ideas. Furthermore, the personality, personal approaches
undertaken by them and the attributes of these entrepreneurs also play a significant part in the
success or the failure of the business venture undertaken by them. It is generally seen that
there is gap between the time period of the identification of the innovative idea and the
ultimate commercialization of the business venture which they establish on the basis of the
innovative idea.

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References
Clifford, C. (2018). Mark Zuckerberg on starting Facebook at 19: 'I've made almost every
mistake you can imagine'. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/on-
facebook-anniversary-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-reveals-what-hes-learned.html
Cooper, A., & Folta, T. (2017). Entrepreneurship and high‐technology clusters. The
Blackwell manual of entrepreneurship, 348-367.
Dees, J. G. (2017). The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship. In Case Studies in Social
Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (pp. 34-42). Routledge.
Drucker, P. (2014). Innovation and entrepreneurship. Routledge.
Forbes Welcome (2018). Forbes Welcome [online]. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/profile/mark-zuckerberg/#98b94c83e06d
Kazanjian, R. K., Drazin, R., & Glynn, M. A. (2017). Implementing strategies for corporate
entrepreneurship: A knowledge‐based perspective. Strategic entrepreneurship:
Creating a new mindset, 173-199.
Kuratko, D. F. (2016). Entrepreneurship: Theory, process, and practice. Cengage Learning.
Niebuhr, O., Brem, A., Novák-Tót, E., & Voße, J. (2016). Charisma in business speeches--A
contrastive acoustic-prosodic analysis of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.
In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference of Speech Prosody, Boston.
The fabulous life and career of 33-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the fifth richest
person on earth. (2018). Business Insider [online]. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.in/The-fabulous-life-and-career-of-33-year-old-

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Wong, J. (2018). 'The third era of Zuck': how the CEO went from hero to humiliation.
Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/06/mark-
zuckerberg-public-image-cambridge-analytica-facebook