by Mary Mershein
Founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson launched MySpace in January 2004. Six months later Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp./Fox bought MySpace for $580 million. By 2007 Myspace had 300 million users and was valued at $12 billion
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During the spectacular growth Myspace users came to include businesses selling products, most notably bands selling music. As Myspace commercialized, the original users stopped coming. In June 2011 Murdoch sold Myspace for a paltry $35 million.

Today we see Facebook undergoing a similar trajectory. In February 2004 it was a place for students to make friends online. Eventually new members were anyone or anything. Facebook commercialized when companies joined as “friends” transforming Facebook into a marketing and customer relations tool. Now your boss is on Facebook reading your personal conversations.

As with Myspace, commercialization caused the original users of Facebook to leave. By June 2011 Facebook lost 7 million users in the US and Canada and growth slowed. It continues to slow in other countries. Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, announced a sale of Facebook on February 1, 2012 through an IPO. The IPO values Facebook at $75 billion.

But only time will tell if Facebook joins Myspace as a ghost town in cyberspace.

In contrast, January 27, 2012 marked the 132th anniversary of the patent for the electric light bulb. General Electric, the company that Thomas Edison founded in 1892 with his light bulb invention, has grown to over $750 billion. That is the equivalent of growing by $75 billion every 10 years for 100 years. Or, maintaining roughly the same growth as Facebook for 100 years.

After 132 years in business General Electric still sells light bulbs. After only 8 years, Facebook is no longer a website dedicated to students.

In January 21, 2011, President Obama invited the CEO of General Electric, Jeffrey Immelt, to become his economic adviser on fixing America's economy. Mark Zuckerberg was not invited.

Leadership is not about only starting, building, selling a successful business. Superior leadership is about a vision to create an enduring business.
What kind of vision do the leaders of your company have? The kind that means it will be around in 100 years?
©2012

Mary Mershein is a Chartered Accountant with a master’s degree in management who believes common sense is our greatest financial analysis. Additional common sense can be found at www.moosemoney.wordpress.com.