News stories about Facebook’s IPO were hard to avoid yesterday. Most of it had to do with how much everyone was set to make, down to the guy who painted the murals in their original office. The most interesting part to me was Zuckerberg’s letter to his investors in which he outlines his vision for the company. While a pinch of salt is needed for certain parts, the section that speaks on Facebook’s method and core values, the Hacker Way, really spoke to me. These values are not just tech start-up specific or built for engineers. They translate directly to the way an artist can carry themselves and run their career. Find below the five core values, and some comments on how to translate this for artists.
Focus on Impact
If we want to have the biggest impact, the best way to do this is to make sure we always focus on solving the most important problems. It sounds simple, but we think most companies do this poorly and waste a lot of time. We expect everyone at Facebook to be good at finding the biggest problems to work on.
What is holding you back from success most? Focus on that first. Is it top level quality recording? Or great song writing? Having a great band? Building a web presence? If you never answer this question, you might pour money and time into solving the wrong problem, and you will fail.
Move Fast
Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.
Protect your art, but don’t be too precious with it either. Say yes to opportunities if they make sense. The worst that can happen is that you learn and are able to better fine tune for the next time.
Be Bold
Building great things means taking risks. This can be scary and prevents most companies from doing the bold things they should. However, in a world that’s changing so quickly, you’re guaranteed to fail if you don’t take any risks. We have another saying: “The riskiest thing is to take no risks.” We encourage everyone to make bold decisions, even if that means being wrong some of the time.
The greatest artists of all time all took big changes. Dylan went electric. The Beatles wrote all their own songs and put together a medley of half songs. Sam Cooke broke racial barriers. Coltrane changed jazz. Know that risks taken don’t always pay off right away, but without taking any risks you certainly won’t be paid off either. Dare to be different and don’t model yourself after someone else.
Be Open
We believe that a more open world is a better world because people with more information can make better decisions and have a greater impact. That goes for running our company as well. We work hard to make sure everyone at Facebook has access to as much information as possible about every part of the company so they can make the best decisions and have the greatest impact.
Unless you’re Prince or Kate Bush, it pays off to drop the rock star mystique and open up to your audience. Share with them the life of a songwriter. Let them see behind the curtain, involve them in the making-of, document the recording process on instagram and tumblr, share a demo, talk about your influences. Only then fans will be able to truly connect to you. Unless you’re Prince or Kate Bush, then don’t worry about it and stay mysterious.
Build Social Value
Once again, Facebook exists to make the world more open and connected, and not just to build a company. We expect everyone at Facebook to focus every day on how to build real value for the world in everything they do.
Music is an incredibly powerful connector. As an artist you can reach directly into people’s souls and bring groups of strangers together at an event or online. The Grateful Dead built social value when they built their community. DMB does it to this day, as do Mac Miller, Lady GaGa, and many others. Write music for yourself, but know that it can be meaningful to others. Try to build a community around your art and they will support you.
These values are very much big picture in their approach. My translation is just one way to interpret the core values in an artist’s context. Let the values inspire you and please share in the comments your own ways to apply them to your career.