No more Facebook? Mark Zuckerberg has a vision says Ben Horowitz
Nearly two years after Facebook’s (FB) tumultuous IPO, the company has found its grounding once again with strong financials and an ever-growing user base. Nearly one-fifth of the time Americans spend on their smartphones is spent using Facebook and the company has completed several large acquisitions including Instagram (for $1 billion), Whatsapp ($19 billion) and virtual reality platform Oculus ($2 billion).
Related: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg earns $1 salary in 2013
Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times on Wednesday that he wanted to dismantle his $150 billion social media company. This year he began Creative Labs, which aims to revamp the way the company distributes it services.
“What we’re doing with Creative Labs is basically unbundling the big blue app,” he told The Times. Facebook is planning on splintering into more focused, smaller services.
Zuckerberg also told The New York Times that this splinter strategy has to do with the way people use mobile phones. “In mobile, there’s a big premium on creating single-purpose, first-class experiences,” he says. This new focus also allows Facebook to be more creative. “You’ll see us exploring new areas that we felt we didn’t have the room to do before.”
The Daily Ticker sat down with Ben Horowitz, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, to discuss what the future of Facebook looks like.
Andreessen Horowitz was an early investor in Facebook. The company would not disclose how much of Facebook they currently own.
Related: Are we on the verge of another tech bubble?
When asked about Mark Zuckerberg's ability to lead Horowitz said “[Mark Zuckerberg] has a vision. He has continuously proved people wrong…Mark Zuckerberg is a tremendous CEO."
Horowitz also believes that Zuckerberg’s controversial acquisition of virtual reality platform Oculus was a genius idea. “I think Oculus is the number one candidate for being the next major computing platform,” says Horowitz, who is also an investor in the company. “It’s a big bet but [Zuckerberg] certainly isn’t just tossing his currency around.”
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