《Facebook解密》背后的故事

    8年时间里，马克•扎克伯格在他哈佛大学（Harvard）寝室里编程打造的社交网站Facebook已经成长为一家拥有约8.43亿用户的互联网公司。如今，Facebook准备在今年晚些时候上市。届时，它将经历其短暂历史上最剧烈的变化。一旦上市，Facebook几乎肯定能够获得足够的资金来实现它最大的抱负。但首次公开募股（IPO）带来的财富也可能威胁到这家公司努力打造的企业文化，一种独特、直言不讳、生气勃勃的文化。

    这就是《Facebook解密》（Inside Facebook）一文的主题。这篇文章将刊登在下一期的《财富》（Fortune）杂志上。我的同事米格尔•赫尔夫特和杰西•亨佩尔在该文中深入探讨了Facebook发展壮大的历程，以及该公司未来面对的各种挑战。其中最主要的挑战是两种不同企业文化的碰撞。一种文化忠实于扎克伯格的黑客信条，另一种文化则深受首席运营官雪莉•桑德伯格的影响，她的风格更具公司化的倾向。文中披露的信息包括：

    • 谢丽尔•桑德伯格及其带入公司的朋友圈子：“人们私底下有一个专门的字眼来指代在Facebook首席运营官的领导下占据了公司实权的精英们。这个词是FOSS，意指谢丽尔•桑德伯格的朋友。谢丽尔在哈佛商学院（the Harvard Business School）的许多同学以及在美国财政部（the U.S. Treasury Department）和谷歌（Google）的很多前同事都跟随着她来到了Facebook。几位已经离开这家公司的中层和高层管理人员都说，桑德伯格把自己的朋友们都安插在实权职位，即使有时候他们的资历还比上公司里的其他员工。这些人一旦上位就会享有特殊待遇。有位Facebook前高管曾经说过：‘已经没有人能阻止FOSS了。’”

    • 工程师们在自助餐厅里吃完饭后，为期六周的强制性训练营就拉开了序幕：“简短的介绍之后，训练营成员会领到一台电脑和一张办公桌。第一次打开电脑时，他们通常会发现六封邮件。一封是欢迎他们进入公司，另外五封是描述他们应该完成的任务，包括修复Facebook网站上的错误。训练的目的很多，其中之一就是让新员工充分认识到，他们拥有直接改变Facebook网站的力量。”

    • 超过1/3的工程师会最终会调往公司的其他团队。

    • 无处不在的、看似简单的“喜欢”按钮实际上经过了“数十次”的修改。

    译者：千牛絮

    In eight years, the social network Mark Zuckerberg began coding in his Harvard dorm room has become a cyber institution with some 843 million users. Now, as Facebook readies to go public later this year, it is about to undergo the most dramatic change in its short history. Once it is public, Zuckerberg's venture will almost certainly have the capital necessary to realize its biggest ambitions. But the riches of an IPO also threaten the uniquely bare-knuckle, scrappy culture the company has struggled to build.

    That is the subject of "Inside Facebook," a feature appearing in the next issue of Fortune. In it, my colleagues Miguel Helft and Jessi Hempel dive into how the company has thrived and the dangers it faces ahead. Primary among its challenges are two divergent cultures, the one faithful to Zuckerberg's hacker credo and the other shaped by COO Sheryl Sandberg's more corporate tendencies. Among the revelations in the story:

    • On Sheryl Sandberg and the circle of friends she has brought into the company: "There's a term spoken quietly around Facebook to describe a cadre of elites who have assumed powerful positions under the leadership of Zuckerberg's chief operating officer: They're FOSS, or friends of Sheryl Sandberg. Many have followed her there after studying with her at the Harvard Business School or working with her at the U.S. Treasury Department or Google (GOOG). Several middle and senior executives who have left the company say that Sandberg has put friends in powerful positions, sometimes even when they were less qualified than other Facebook employees, and once there they enjoy special status. 'You can't really cross a FOSS,' says one former senior manager."

    • The mandatory six-week Bootcamp for engineers came about after a run in between engineers in the cafeteria: "After a quick orientation, bootcampers are given a computer and a desk. When they open their laptop the first time, they'll often find six e-mails. One welcomes them to the company; the other five describe tasks they're supposed to perform, including fixing bugs on the Facebook site. The goals are manifold. One is to get new employees comfortable with the idea that they have the power to push changes directly onto the Facebook site."

    • More than one-third of engineers transfer to other teams within the company.

    • The ubiquitous, seemingly simple "Like" button underwent "dozens" of iterations.