Partnership Pitfalls

Imagine this scenario: Two Ivy League college friends barely in their twenties create a website that lights up first their own institution and later the world. They have little in the way of formal business training, just a killer idea and a great deal of drive and vision. One of them goes on to become one of the biggest names in the social media revolution but the other literally has to sue to even be recognized as a cofounder and still receives little in the way of recognition for his contributions.

This is actually a real story- that of the men who created Facebook, the social network that has changed the way people of all ages and from all walks of life communicate. Mark Zuckerberg is the man who is always credited with being the “face behind Facebook” however he had partners in the venture, but bickering and infighting led to one of them – Eduardo Saverin – being frozen out.

According to popular lore the two have finally made a truce and Saverin now officially listed as a founder of the social networking giant. Another rumor is that Mr Zuckerberg had no choice but to make nice with his former friend because Mr Saverin was considering cooperating with a director intending to produce an unflattering movie about the early years of Facebook.

The lesson here is that business partnerships of any kind have to be planned and thought out right from the start. By all accounts in 2004 Mark and Eduardo were the best of friends and as such I am sure that they thought there would never be the kinds of problems between them that occurred, just as it is unlikely that either of them could have imagined how huge their venture would become. They allowed their differences to become public knowledge instead of trying to solve them amicably and the dispute will always be a blight on the company’s history, however successful it may be.

Partnering is powerful because the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts. However, it can also cause problems. Planning and communication may be the solutions.