How Mark Zuckerberg really started is not how the movie The Social Network showed it.
Source: Funders and Founders
Mark Zuckerberg meets a computer
His father, although not an engineer, was an early computer enthusiast. Running a dental office he had a vision that computers would change the way people communicate. But for the time being he used them for taking scanning people’s mouths. At age 10 Mark was bored with school. His father noticed and introduced him to his Altair computer. Together they wrote a program that connected the computer at home with the computer in the office. They called it “ZuckNet.” It alerted doctor Z, as he is known, when a patient arrived. It worked better than having the receptionist yell, “Patient here!”
Mark Zuckerberg starts hacking
Mark quickly learned everything his father knew about computers. He started studying with a tutor. Then he started taking a college class in computer science while still in middle school. He read books. But he really started learning to code when he transferred to a private school where he met a programming whiz kid Adam D’Angelo. Together they started hacking. They made an artificially intelligent music player that learned the user’s music taste. Soon Microsoft found out about it and offered money and a job. Zuckerberg was not interested.
There is a running theme in how Mark Zuckerberg started. He would be offered millions and even billions at least 11 times since then, and every time he walked away. He might have a bigger plan every time.
Source: The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World
[Editor’s Note: This article was written by Anna Vital and originally published at Funders And Founders. Copyright 2014.]
