![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i.telegraph.co.uk\/multimedia\/archive\/01299\/Facebook_1299512c.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Image from:\u00a0http:\/\/i.telegraph.co.uk\/multimedia\/archive\/01299\/Facebook_1299512c.jpg<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Founded in 2003 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and his friends,1<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Facebook<\/a> has quickly become\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0social networking website. This innovative product reinvented the social media market, offering a new approach as to how people interacted and communicated online.<\/p>\n Zuckerberg’s risky\u00a0entrepreneurial\u00a0venture grew extremely profitable. Yes, while Facebook offers its services to users for free, it has been generating a positive cash flow2<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0since 2009\u2014mainly through revenue generated from advertisements. With a user base of over 800 million users, it is no surprise Facebook posted advertising revenues of 1.86 billion in 20103<\/a><\/sup>, as companies paid huge sums to tap into an ever-expanding customer base.<\/p>\n Creating the \u201chottest\u201d social platform had its risks. For Zuckerberg, there was no way to foresee just how popular the website will become. There was always a possibility of consumers walking away after a first glimpse. Furthermore, as Facebook\u2019s user base continued to lag behind Myspace\u2019s (8 million vs. 100 million in August 2006), Zuckerberg was offered $1 billion from Yahoo to sell.4<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0He turned the money down, convinced that Facebook could be worth more without Yahoo. He was right. Through Zuckerberg\u2019s vision and hard work, Facebook evolved into the successful business it is today.<\/p>\n Word Count: 200<\/p>\n 1. http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/technology\/2007\/jul\/25\/media.newmedia<\/a><\/p>\n 2. http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/blog.php?post=136782277130<\/a><\/p>\n 3. http:\/\/mashable.com\/2011\/01\/17\/facebooks-ad-revenue-hit-1-86b-for-2010\/<\/a><\/p>\n 4. http:\/\/www.wired.com\/techbiz\/startups\/news\/2007\/09\/ff_facebook?currentPage=all<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Image from:\u00a0http:\/\/i.telegraph.co.uk\/multimedia\/archive\/01299\/Facebook_1299512c.jpg\u00a0 Founded in 2003 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and his friends,1\u00a0Facebook has quickly become\u00a0the\u00a0social networking website. This innovative product reinvented the social media market, offering a new approach as to how people interacted and communicated online. Zuckerberg’s risky\u00a0entrepreneurial\u00a0venture … Continue reading