Small Business Lessons from a Facebook IPO Flop

Facebook’s IPO dismally failed to keep up with most estimates of closing day share prices but Zuckerberg still ranks among the country’s richest. So what powerful lessons are to be picked up from the fiasco by small business owners and entrepreneurs?
Mark Zuckerberg has already lost more than $2 billion since Facebook went public. Luckily he can clearly afford it after an almost $20 billion windfall last week. However it is clear that there are powerful lessons to be learned here, both for those rushing towards their own giant IPOs and new startups.
For a start this could be a good lesson in how ego and hype can work against entrepreneurs. Being too arrogant and taking on large competitors head on will certainly breed many enemies, enemies who will pop up to burst your bubble at the wrong moment.
After all the talk about Google not catching up to Facebook, Google is still the biggest player. Chrome is now the number one browser and advertising on the search engine keeps growing while Facebook just lost a $10 million ad contract with GM. Perhaps it is wise not to burn your first line of contacts and better to offer more support to advertisers and affiliates who are responsible for generating the bulk of your revenue.
Facebook’s IPO certainly shows just how powerful lists are today as the stock certainly wasn’t being directly valued on earnings and assets alone. However, net profit is still a major factor that should be the focus of all entrepreneurs, and thanks to outsourcing this is easier to control than ever before.
However, perhaps the most important takeaway here is that the stock’s revision by Morgan Stanley and sharp correction since launch seems to have a lot to do with an amended prospectus warning about revenue issues due to the trend towards mobile by consumers.
This means those who want to win in the next months and years and who hope to claim a fraction of “Zuck’s” wealth need to be focused not just on content and social media, but mobile apps, mobile search and vanity numbers.