3. Lose fast, learn and bet smarter.
Not every gamble that Zuckerberg made has come up trumps. As mobile audiences began to build, Facebook’s strategy was to use HTML 5 so that games built for the platform would work on mobile devices without using Flash. It looked like a smart move, but it wasn’t. Mobile growth was slow until Facebook launched its iOS app, and Zuckerberg noticed that users were seeing twice as many feed stories.
So he changed the strategy. Out went HTML 5 and a focus on revenues from game developers. In came the focus on a native app and mobile-ad income. Facebook is now a mobile company that dominates an increasingly mobile Web.
When your risk isn’t paying off, you need to learn from the mistake -- and make a new bet fast.