Facebook

In just over two years, Mark Zuckerberg had built the Internet directory service Facebook from nothing more than an idea into a national phenomenon worthy of a reported $750 million buyout offer. The organization had grown from just a few friends programming around a kitchen table to a full-fledged technology business with over 100 employees and 7.4 million users. Zuckerberg would have to develop an organization strategy that could allow the company to keep up with its underlying growth metrics, while ensuring Facebook’s consumer experience was better than its alternatives. The company’s core market—college students—were prone to switching and potential new markets—college students outside of the U.S. and high school students—were rife with well-funded entrants that were a step ahead of Facebook. Focusing the organization on the right objectives would be critical; getting the company to perform efficiently against those objectives would be a challenge for Facebook CEO and 21-year-old Harvard drop-out Mark Zuckerberg.