21 days ago
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (in a fictional 2026 earnings call) reflects on company history, mistakes, and the strategic importance of AI investment.
- Key historical lessons: human curiosity drove Facebook's early growth; the feed increased engagement; mobile expanded access; Instagram evolved with technology.
- Mistakes include obsessing over becoming a platform (delaying mobile native experience), over-investing in Reality Labs (VR), and underestimating Facebook's shift to entertainment (a blindspot TikTok exploited).
- Biggest failing as CEO was undervaluing Meta's ad business; ads connect entrepreneurs to consumers uniquely, unlike search-based ad models.
- AI is critical because it addresses existential risks to digital businesses, enhances ad targeting and content recommendations, and expands monetizable inventory (e.g., every pixel).
- AI investment leverages Meta's strength in entertainment and human connection, not productivity tools; it may also enable new hardware for AI access beyond phones.
- Aggressive compute (GPU/data center) investment is necessary; Meta will rent out excess compute short-term to fund build-out and use hurdle rates to discipline decision-making.
- Meta's focus: using compute to enhance human connection, entertainment, and commerce—not competing in chatbots or productivity subscriptions—ensuring AI investment pays off via ads.