Monday, October 4, 2010 at 10:03AM The Truth About 'Social Network' - Fact vs. Fiction
Okay, I must admit the title of this article is a bit audacious considering I don't personally know Mark Zuckerberg but after watching the movie, I was inspired to seek out the truth and find out some interesting tidbits from various internet sources because lets be honest, the movie only tells the story from Eduardo Saverin's point of view.
1. Facemash.com was created in whim to mimic "hot or not" but with familiar faces.
Fiction. Zuckerberg created the site as a protest against Harvard's failure to publish online photos of incoming freshman.
2. In the beginning of the film, Zuckerberg's girlfriend breaks up with him and throughout the movie he struggles to get over her.
Fiction. Zuckerberg really didn't have a girlfriend before The Facebook and after the launch of the site, he dated his current girl Priscilla Chan.
3. Sean Parker was instrumental in motivating Zuckerberg to create Facebook.
Fact. Parker was the critical advisor for everyone involved in the early goings and completely understood the massive potential the company had. In addition, he is not the cold blooded a$$hole that the movie portrayed him as. He created guarantees in negotiating with venture capitalists to have Mark Zuckerberg always maintain control of the company with the number of board seats.
4. Sean Parker got arrested for cocaine possession partying with young girls.
Fact. Parker left the company partially due to this embarrassment.
5. Settlement for Eduardo Saverin is undisclosed and nobody really knows how much he won.
Fiction. Saverin got back 5% of the company which based on a $25 billion valuation equals to $1.25 billion payout.
6. The Winklevoss twins played a big role in developing the idea of facebook and they were world class rowers.
Partial Fact. The twins did tell Zuckerberg about their idea but at that point, it really was just another version of Friendster and the idea of making it exclusive to Harvard students have been done by other social networking sites previously. However, they do come from money and they are physically gifted to compete on the world stage.
7. Mark Zuckerberg did make a fake pitch to a VC firm in his pajamas. He also had a business card with the title, "I'm CEO, bitch."
Fact. The pitch was made to one of the most prestigious VC firm's in the valley, Sequoia Capital. However, their offices are in Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto and not in a high rise in downtown San Francisco. Oh and yeah, he had a business card that read, "I'm CEO, bitch." at one point.
So there you have it. I was actually surprised that about half of what really went on in the film was actually true. There are people who have interviewed Mark Zuckerberg directly to find the facts above. But needless to say, groupies, sex in a public restroom, and the ridiculous parties were indeed fiction. Hope this helps!
Reader Comments (12)
so, he originally wanted to call it FaceSmash.com.
Now there is an Ebay auction for original www.FaceSmash.com name
...lay off the guy, he is a genius
Thanks for clearing that up with us Mark.
This was an interesting article, and I too wondered why they said that Eduardo settled for an undisclosed amount of money even though his reacquisition of 5% of the company (and having his name restored on the banner as a cofounder) were public information. I was also glad they include the "I'm CEO Bitch" business cards it was one of my favorite Facebook related pieces of trivia.
For what it's worth, I don't think the movie made Parker look like an asshole as much as it made him seem like he was too smart and too slick for his own good, though it was certainly a negative portrayal. I also wonder why they didn't mention that he was actually the company president prior to the drug bust. Not a big thing, but still something I think should have included.
where's your sources?
LOSTY, there were many sources I've used through the internet from USAtoday, Wikipedia, Daily Beast etc. Some of their stuff is directly from Mark Zuckerberg himself when he did interviews. Obviously, a ton of material scattered throughout the web and I tried my best in making a judgement call as to what's real and what's fake.
I would like to see your sources that say that the setltement is 5%. I have read that his shares were diluted to 5% (not as low as they said in the movie) but no where can I find the settlement of the legal action.
Oh hai Mark!
http://www.slashfilm.com/the-truth-behind-the-social-network/#disqus_thread n http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/thesocialnetwork.php
dude most of ur facts r quite false, visit dese sites n u'll get 2 knw d real truth...dese sites hv geniune information frm sources dat either mark backed or r acquired by research!!!
n he did hv a galfrn jessica alona hu dumped him n he blogged abt it....d blog in d movie z actually d real 1 js d name chnged.
he knw priscilla arnd dat tym bt dey began datin way back in 2005