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Mark Zuckerberg on a List of “10 People Who Don’t Matter”

Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg Image: Manu Fernandez Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg

It's hard to believe, but there was a time when CNN's Business 2.0 had Facebook's founder, Mark Zuckerberg, on its list of "10 People Who Don't Matter."

Yes, that's right, CNN's Business 2.0, a magazine that once lived as part of CNN Money, listed Zuckerberg as No. 10 on that list. The article also dismissed Netflix as a passing fad; thanks to Mashable for digging up this story.

The article also proclaimed MySpace as the most important player in the social media game, calling the network, the "80-million-user gorilla," whose success Facebook was simply chasing.

In entrepreneurship, timing is everything. So we'll give Zuckerberg credit for launching his online social directory for college students just as the social-networking craze was getting underway. He also built it right, quickly making Facebook one of the most popular social-networking sites on the Net. But there's also something to be said for knowing when to take the money and run. Last spring, Facebook reportedly turned down a $750 million buyout offer, holding out instead for as much as $2 billion. Bad move. After selling itself to Rupert Murdoch's Fox for $580 million last year, MySpace is now the Web's second most popular website. Facebook is growing too - but given that MySpace has quickly grown into the industry's 80-million-user gorilla, it's hard to imagine who would pay billions for an also-ran.M

Well what a difference a decade makes; we all know what happened to MySpace.

One lesson here for aspiring entrepreneurs is to be careful from whom you take advice. Imagine if Zuckerberg had followed the advice of CNN's Business 2.0.

Last modified onMonday, 20 October 2014 21:56