Facebook Creator Mark Zuckerberg Meets Utah Entrepreneurs

Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most renowned entrepreneurs in history, and he came to Utah last Friday to share his advice with Brigham Young University students and local business leaders. One of those leaders is Fishbowl CEO Dave Williams.

Zuckerberg at BYU

Zuckerberg spoke at BYU campus in Provo, Utah to an excited crowd. I got to attend the event. Early on, Zuckerberg admitted public speaking isn’t his strong point, but he seemed quite poised and confident to me. He came at Senator Orrin Hatch’s request, and Sen. Hatch joked he wished Zuckerberg would also accept his “friend” request as easily as he had accepted his request to come all the way to Utah. Zuckerberg answered several questions people had posted to BYU’s Facebook page, asking him about his experience in college, how he approaches app development, what he’s looking for in employees and more. That reminds me, here’s a fun joke: What is Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite app when he’s speaking to an audience? Answer: Applause!

Zuckerberg’s Advice

Instead of looking for new hires with exactly the right skills, Zuckerberg wants employees who are proactive, creative and passionate about something. He encourages third-party developers to create apps because they can usually do a better job than Facebook can. Psychology was more important than technology in his approach to building Facebook, Zuckerberg said. By focusing on strengthening people’s relationships, Facebook has been able to become an indispensable part of many people’s lives. He had a lot of great tidbits of information to share like that. Here’s a short clip of him at that event. Facebook and Fishbowl Zuckerberg spoke privately with several up-and-coming entrepreneurs while he was in Utah and, as I mentioned, Williams was among them. Williams is a BYU alumnus, and he has done an amazing job turning Fishbowl into a successful business. We keep growing year after year, even as the economy struggles to find its footing. Facebook has surpassed 500 million users, but they’re not content to stay where they are. And neither is Fishbowl. The mark of a great company is its ambition to keep growing and improving its service, despite any challenge it might face. Whether you’re in the business of social media or inventory management software, the key is to have a positive attitude and do your best to make great things happen. You can see if inventory management software is a good fit for your company by getting a free trial of Fishbowl Inventory.