Facebook CEO Admits Missteps

At SXSW, Mark Zuckerberg says the social network has yet to achieve its grand ambition. Plus, the lesson of the Beacon controversy

Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook. Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News/Landov

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By Spencer E. Ante and Catherine Holahan

March 10, 2008 at 9:01 AM UTC

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Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, 23, has developed a reputation, deserved or not, for being aloof and arrogant. And who can blame him? The Harvard dropout has created one of the fastest-growing and arguably most innovative Internet companies since Google (GOOG). An investment from Microsoft (MSFT) gave it a $15 billion valuation last year.

But at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Tex., Zuckerberg presented a humbler side of himself in his most public confession to date. In a Mar. 9 keynote Q&A session with columnist Sarah Lacy, Zuckerberg admitted to a series of missteps. In a wide-ranging interview that lasted an hour, Zuckerberg also announced the launch of a French-language version of his social networking site aimed at the 100 million-plus Francophones worldwide.