Mark Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old CEO of Facebook, took to the stage at the Marriot Center at Brigham Young University Friday for his first-ever academic forum at any university to discuss entrepreneurial success, his passion for education, and the future of social networking.
The youngest billionaire in the world (worth $13.5 billion and counting) wore his trademark hoodie, jeans, and sneakers, as he spoke to a crowd of 10,600 for a technology forum hosted by Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch.
“When I told Mark that I loved what he was doing and asked Mark to come out and speak to our young people in Utah, he said yes and I was tickled.” Said Hatch while introducing Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg began the question and answer format of the forum (all of the questions were asked by Hatch) by first discussing the unparalleled growth and success of Facebook and how he never imagined that the site he created in a Harvard dorm would explode into a billion-dollar company that has upwards of 500 million account holders.
“I was quite certain that we were not going to even build a company.” Zuckerberg said. “And if a company was ever going to be built out of what we were doing then someone much more qualified than me would do it.”
When Zuckerberg was asked about what kinds of qualities it takes to become and enlightened entrepreneur, he stated that it is passion that breeds success.
“I think you have to really love and believe in what you are doing. If you don’t completely love what you are doing it is the rational thing to stop doing it. Any normal person would not want to build a company, but it is a matter of finding what you have a passion for,” Zuckerberg said.
Zuckerberg spoke often of his passion for education and Facebook’s quest to aid education as much as possible. When asked about what kinds of classes are the most important for aspiring entrepreneurs, Zuckerberg mentioned that his double major of psychology was just as valuable as his other major of computer science.
“There’s always information that people might be interested in, but the things people are most interested in are with people they really care about,” he said. “A lot of what we are doing is as much about psychology and sociology as it is technology.”
A question that was on the minds of many in attendance that was never asked by Hatch was Zuckerberg’s thought on his harsh portrayal in the recent Oscar-winning movie, “The Social Network”.
“I was definitely disappointed that he never talked about the movie,” said UVU Junior Michael Spencer. “That is the whole reason I braved this slush and came to this thing.”
Zuckerberg has softened the image created by the film of late by donating $100 milion to the Newark Public Schools and also being named Time’s Person of the Year for 2010.
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