Dave Morin Fireside with Josh Elman | #ProductSF 2016 | Summary and Q&A

TL;DR

Dave Morin discusses his career journey from Apple to Facebook, the development of the Facebook platform, and the challenges faced with his own startup, Path.

Key Insights

• 🥺 Early recognition of potential and being part of revolutionary technological developments can lead to great entrepreneurial opportunities.
• ❓ Transparency, effective communication, and community involvement are vital for the success of any platform or social network.
• 🧑‍🏭 Timing, strategic decisions, and understanding the target market are crucial factors for startups to thrive.
• 🎁 The intersection of technology and biology presents exciting opportunities for advancements in healthcare and genomics.
• 👤 Designing products with social context and incorporating signals that encourage desired behavior can enhance user experience and engagement.
• ❓ Maintaining and committing to values within a community can foster a more civil and healthy conversation.

Transcript

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Questions & Answers

Q: What drew Morin to join Apple and Facebook in their early stages?

Morin joined Apple due to his passion for their products, particularly Mac OS 10, and the opportunity to work with Steve Jobs. He joined Facebook because he was impressed by its high engagement and powerful social graph.

Q: What inspired the launch of the Facebook platform, and how did Morin contribute to it?

Morin played a role in the decision to create the Facebook platform, which aimed to give developers the ability to leverage the social graph and create a social operating system. Morin and his team focused on enabling distribution, privacy considerations, and creating tools for developers.

Q: How did Morin manage the challenges and frustrations faced with the Facebook platform, and what learnings did he take from that experience?

Morin acknowledges that the team made mistakes in communication and transparency. They were dealing with unexpected explosive growth and struggled to make smart decisions. He believes more open conversation and inclusion of the community in decision-making would have been more beneficial.

Q: Why did Morin decide to leave Facebook and start his own company, Path?

Morin had always wanted to start his own company and was inspired by the idea of creating a network that maintains intimacy over time. He wanted to explore new network topologies and create an experience that stands out in the crowded social networking space.

Summary

In this video, Josh Elman interviews Dave Morin about his experiences working at Apple and Facebook, as well as founding his own company called Path. They discuss the early days of Apple and Facebook, the Facebook platform launch, the challenges they faced, and the lessons learned from their experiences. Dave also talks about his current focus on investing in startups and his passion for finding a cure for depression through genomics.

Questions & Answers

Q: How did Dave end up working at Apple and Facebook in their early days?

Dave was a hardcore Apple user and got inspired by Steve Jobs' interview where he talked about the beautiful icons on Mac OS 10. Dave joined Apple after college and was excited about the new products and innovations they were working on. He learned about Facebook while working at Apple and saw its huge engagement potential, which drew him to join Facebook as well.

Q: What inspired the launch of the Facebook platform?

Dave shares the story of how he and Dustin Moskovitz, the co-founder of Facebook, had conversations about replacing the address book with Facebook and creating a social operating system. They wanted to give developers the ability to use the Facebook social graph and create apps with powerful distribution. This led to the launch of the Facebook platform, which became a huge success.

Q: What were some of the challenges and learnings from the Facebook platform launch?

Dave talks about the challenges they faced with the exponential growth of the platform. They had to make smart decisions to protect their users and maintain the quality of the platform. One of the decisions they made was to shift the directory from being based on downloads to engagement, which had a significant impact on the ecosystem. However, they didn't communicate this decision well to the developer community, and in hindsight, they should have been more transparent and involved the community in the decision-making process.

Q: Why did Dave decide to leave Facebook and start his own company, Path?

Dave had always wanted to start his own company and had conversations with Shawn Fanning, co-founder of Napster, about creating a network that maintains quality and intimacy over time. Inspired by the idea of limited connections and flexible social graphs, Dave decided to start Path. He also felt that his work on platforms and connect at Facebook had been completed, and it was time for a new challenge.

Q: What are some lessons learned from Dave's experience with Path?

Dave shares a strategic decision he made to focus on growing the network in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, to leverage it for expansion into adjacent markets. However, this decision turned out to be a mistake, as the user base in Indonesia didn't contribute to monetization and became a burden on resources. This taught him the importance of focusing on distribution in a specific market and being mindful of the ability to monetize.

Q: As an investor now, what excites Dave in the current landscape?

Dave is passionate about genomics and believes that we are at a transformative moment in biotech. He sees the potential for rapid advancements in curing diseases through genomics technologies like CRISPR. Dave is particularly interested in finding a cure for depression, a disease that has personal significance for him. He believes that with these new tools, technology can drive significant change in healthcare.

Q: What are some key principles of social design that Dave thinks are important?

Dave emphasizes the importance of social context and how it influences behavior. He discusses the role of modeling and how people tend to adopt behaviors they see others engaging in within a social system. He also highlights the concept of signal theory and how it applies to social products. Handicapped signals, where users are willing to handicap themselves in some way to send a signal, and authentic signals are key components of successful social systems. Dave also stresses the importance of having a transparent conversation with the community about values and actively managing the community in a way that fosters a healthy and civil environment.

Takeaways

Dave Morin's experiences at Apple, Facebook, and Path provide valuable insights into the challenges and lessons of building successful products and companies. He emphasizes the importance of transparent communication, understanding social context, and designing for authentic and meaningful interactions. Dave's current focus on genomics and finding a cure for depression reflects his passion for leveraging technology to drive significant advancements in healthcare. Overall, his journey and perspectives serve as a reminder for entrepreneurs and investors to continually learn, adapt, and pursue meaningful goals.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Dave Morin started his career at Apple and joined Facebook in its early days, recognizing their potential for growth and success.

• He played a key role in the development of the Facebook platform, allowing developers to build apps and create a social operating system.

• Morin later founded his own company, Path, which aimed to maintain intimacy and quality in social networks, particularly in the mobile space.