Why You Should Read The Accidental Billionaires

Ben Mezrich’s book on Facebook’s founding is a great book to read. It’s not Moby Dick or anything of that caliber but it is a solid, good read because it is timely, interesting and told in a way that paints an amazing story. Usually biographies are pretty dry but the author does a great job of telling the story like a novel, with detailed descriptions of the settings and characters, which makes reading the book a breeze and delight.

I knew very little of Mark Zuckerberg and the other founders of Facebook going into reading this. I knew Mark Zuckerberg was the youngest self-made billionaire on Earth which was enough to gain my interest. What amazed me about this story was two things, one, how incredibly focused, driven and talented Mark Zuckerberg was and is, and two, how completely not up to par and often very imbecilic his co-founder was. Zuckerberg knew he was smart and he had a vision for what he felt could connect the world; he was not money motivated, but driven by the act of creating itself. He punched his computer keys into the night and all day long and continues to do so to this day as far as I know. A video I saw on YouTube played him saying he only had a mattress at his small studio apartment, just enough for him to come to for sleep and all the rest of the time he works at Facebook headquarters. Now his co-founder is not dumb by ordinary measures, but when compared to Mark Zuckerberg he comes up short by a long ways. He was there at the beginning and was smart enough to invest the first $1,000 into the company and get 30% of the company but not smart enough to stay by Zuckerberg’s side while he was growing and improving the company in California, instead choosing to remain on the East Coast, near Harvard. While his friend made history he let slip through his fingers one of the biggest opportunities of all time, losing his 30% stake and the chance to connect the world.

Overall, the book was a fast, entertaining read. It reads like a novel and is not based 100% on fact but attempts to do so as best as it can. I think the author did a great job and deserves the soon to be released film The Social Network based on it. Real life told like a grown-up fairy-tale with college students and computers. The story of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg is great enough on its own despite the teller of the tale but Ben Mezrich did a good job and wrote a good book. I think you should read it.