Patrick Gladney

Facebook IPO: Will Zuck Need to Eat His Words?

Patrick.Gladney, May 16 2012

Patrick Gladney is the Director of Research and Insights at SMG. Follow @pgladney

This week represents a coming out party of sorts for the gorilla of social networks, Facebook. Any day now, the Facebook IPO means that people will be able to own a piece of the company rather than just “Like” it. So how will Facebook fare once it is traded on the open market? Will the merciless scrutiny of Wall Street and public investors alter the trajectory of a channel with a (projected) larger market cap than Disney, News Corp or CBS? I wonder, particularly when one reads the 16 words from a letter Mark Zuckerberg wrote, included in Facebook’s IPO filing:

“Simply put: we don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.”

zuckerberg stocks facebook ipo 300x187 Facebook IPO: Will Zuck Need to Eat His Words?

Perhaps Zuck is looking to mimic Google’s famous  ”informal” corporate mantra “Don’t be evil” in choosing such an altruistic social mission statement. But Facebook consistently gets in trouble with privacy watchdogs, intent on protecting consumer data. So much so, that one might easily believe that money making trumps services at Facebook. Or perhaps those services relate to the needs of advertisers, instead of ordinary members?

Regardless, I find it interesting that a business the size of Facebook downplays the significance of making money, almost as if it’s a dirty practice.  Businesses are built to make money, and I am sure that investors will see this as the priority. Investing in the business to improve the service offering makes sense in the early stages, but my guess is that Wall Street will want Facebook to grow up. As the old saying goes, “if you want to run with the big dogs…”

What do you think Facebook’s real priorities are?

Ruth Bastedo

SMG works with DFAIT to launch new LinkedIn Group for Canadian Business Women in International Trade

Ruth Bastedo, April 26 2012

Business Women in Trade, a Sub-group of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) launched last week, to a very warm welcome from Canadian businesswomen. This brand new group already has over 150 members from the business community, from across Canada, and is growing every day.

LinkedIn DFAIT 300x179 SMG works with DFAIT to launch new LinkedIn Group for Canadian Business Women in International Trade

The goal of the group is to facilitate networking for entrepreneurs and businesswomen from across Canada, who share challenges in doing business abroad. The group is attracting a great mix of Canadian business professionals, Trade Commissioners, government partners, trade associations, academics and researchers — all interested in international commerce.

The group provides today’s professional women with information on leadership development opportunities, new ways of thinking and vital connections to help them advance. Both men and women are encouraged to join the group to:

We welcome your participation in this new LinkedIn community and encourage you to refer a colleague. Join the pulse of discussions.

As a Canadian business, SMG has actively worked in the US market from its inception in 2006, and CEO Maggie Fox is a familiar face at Social Media conferences and events around the world. We are thrilled to be involved in this initiative, and encourage members of the Canadian Business Community to join the group!