Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) started out as a small website exactly 10 years ago today, and Business Insider has discovered what may very well be the first article ever written about it. At the time, the site was actually TheFacebook.com, and the article referred to by BI was published in The Harvard Crimson and focused on Mark Zuckerberg, then a student at Harvard, but now CEO of a company with a market capitalization of more than $150 billion.
“Hundreds Register for New Facebook Website”
That was the headline on the story, and at the time, that probably seemed like quite a feat, but looking back on it now, it certainly seems like an understatement. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s original website attracted attention because it had gone viral at Harvard, attracting 650 users in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, Zuckerberg told the publication that he expected he would have 900 users “by this morning,” at the time of that article.
Today Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has 1.3 billion users, and it’s monetizing those users while adapting to the changing needs of the Internet as it shifts to mobile usage.
How TheFacebook.com came to be
Zuckerberg said he spent only a week coding the original website, and at the time, it contained some “elements of a standard House face book with extensive profile features that allow students to search for others in their courses, social organizations and Houses.” He created the website because “everyone” was talking about a face book within Harvard, and he said the university was taking too long to do it and that he could do it better and in only a week.
Where Facebook’s first 20 employees are now
Business Insider also took a look at the first 20 employees Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) had and where they are today. Of course Zuckerberg is CEO now, but many of those original 20 employees don’t work there any longer. Some left to join Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) or other major technology companies, while others started their own companies which went on to become hits, including YouTube and Quora.
Like Zuckerberg, most of those original 20 employees are executives now. Interestingly enough, only two of them were women.
