Inside the DNA of the Facebook Mafia

&#62; But unlike companies like Google and Amazon who rigorously hired based on college degrees, GPAs and standardized test scores, Facebook and the companies that have spun out of it have hewed toward sheer, raw, hacker-like genius.<p>One of the best articles I've read by Sarah Lacy (I wish she would write more big picture stuff like this) and it's on TechCrunch! It would be a very interesting visualization to build a Silicon Valley family tree from Fairchild Semiconductor to HP to Xerox PARC to present day. Maybe that is one of the reasons Silicon Valley can't be duplicated - and is one of the most unique business locations on the planet - everyone is virtual cousins or 2nd cousins with everyone else. All in the (extended) family.

<i>Instead, many of these companies take a cue from the way Facebook rolled out with a deliberate controlled pacing that allowed it to scale as it went from just Harvard, to include Ivy League schools, high schools, work places, and eventually the world.</i><p>Did Facebook really have controlled pacing or did the product actually just start out as a niche product and grow? I thought the latter. The difference being did Zuck actually have even a blurry plan of its growth?

Great article. Should be required reading for people trying to understand the Valley boys club. I particularly like how just like the original mafia, all the groups she discusses are all male!

It's funny that the comments are about the quality of the writing and not the content of the article.

&#62;Most companies put an implicit value on size for the sake of size, and doing any cheap viral game in the book to get there, even if it means a low percentage of users ever engage with your app or return to your site again.<p>These "Mafioso" Startups are playing the right game. Leverage slow growth and focus on maximizing value per consumer, rather than maximizing the number of consumers.<p>A good point made in the article, that could have been overlooked.

I'm pleasantly surprised by this article. I expected it to be another "Facebook clubs baby seals" article (which is what I've learned to expect from techcrunch), but it was a great insight into Silicon Valley culture.

I didn't know about this:<p><a href="http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/sxsw-mark-zucke/" rel="nofollow">http://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/03/sxsw-mark-zucke/</a>

Asana vs 37 Signals?

Alright, Techcrunch is sometimes journalism.