What I Learned From the Movie "The Social Network"

I finally got around to seeing the movie "The Social Network" – the one about Mark Zuckerberg starting Facebook from his room at Harvard.

Aaron Sorkin wrote the screenplay based on the book "The Accidental Billionaires" by Ben Mezrich (which I have not read).

As I watched the movie, which is a fictionalized account rather than a factual telling of the start of Facebook, I was more conscious of director David Fincher's visual shots than I should have been.

Leaving this aside, I do think there are major lessons based on the movie's plot points:

1. Do NOT sign any contracts without having a lawyer review what you are about to sign.

When co-founder Eduardo Saverin later explains that he thought the Facebook lawyers were his lawyers, he reveals the major error that led to his drastically reduced share of the company. Those lawyers represented the company and Mark Zuckerberg. Eduardo Saverin needed his own legal representation.

2. The song "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" from the musical "Finian's Rainbow" has the cautionary refrain:

When I'm not near the girl I love,

I love the girl I'm near.

When Eduardo Saverin let Mark Zuckerberg go off to California for three months by himself, this was another major error. This error allowed other people to exert influence on the direction of Facebook without Saverin being there as counterbalance

3. And for all of us who now use social media to connect with others and promote our business, good ideas are only that until they are acted upon.

In conclusion, I could have probably spent my time more productively than watching the movie, except for one tiny detail I noticed. That detail has given me an idea in connection with a three-ebook series on which I am currently working. And learning from the lessons of the movie, I plan to act on this idea.

This brings me to my final words of wisdom for this blog post:

Ideas can be found everywhere around us. We just need to keep our minds open to the possibilities.

© 2011 Miller Mosaic, LLC

Phyllis Zimbler Miller (@ZimblerMiller on Twitter) has an M.B.A. from The Wharton School and is the co-founder of the marketing consulting company www.MillerMosaicLLC.com that helps clients effectively use social media and other online marketing strategies.

Check out Phyllis' books and other projects at www.PhyllisZimblerMiller.com