The Accidental Billionaires(108-169)

In this section of the novel, both Eduardo and Mark attend a presentation where Bill Gates is making a speech. Bill Gates, according to the novel, shares some similar inward and outward characteristics as that of Mark. They are both lanky/awkward, pale, not very gregarious, and are not good public speakers. However, their presence, although it may be ungraceful, is still very inspiring. Bill Gates tells the Harvard students about his experiences as a student at Harvard. He had a habit of cutting classes then eventually he dropped out of college to pursue his goal of creating his own business. He also mentions that there very well could possibly be the next Bill Gates in this very room he is speaking in. He also says that if anyone has any ideas and they need to drop out of school, they will be able to come back to Harvard at any time. To Eduardo, dropping out is not a possibility he is even considering. He has worked hard to get himself where he is - at Harvard and continued working hard to maintain good grades. His father would also strongly prevent him from dropping out. Also, Eduardo thinks that entrepreneurship is successful if there is risk-taking involved but the risk-taking only has to be to a certain degree.
At the event, there are these two Asian girls who catches the eyes of Eduardo. Eduardo begins talking to the girls, however, they are more interested about talking to Mark. Recently, Mark has become an instant celebrity on campus and everyone knows who he is and what he looks like. The Crimson newspaper has also published articles about him several times so that has also accumulated to his publicity. Eduardo begins coming up with ideas of how to make Facebook even greater - to him, Facebook is just a successful novelty which has the potentials of expanding much further. He then plans of convincing Mark about showing ads on Facebook because that would enable them to make tons of money off of it. In Mark's mind, he just wants Facebook to be for fun, not necessarily to make money off of it. Eduardo is beginning to feel nervous about the whole thing because as the website is gaining more members, the cost of the server (which he is paying for) is going up. When he meets up with Mark to discuss his plans, both Mark and he read an email sent by Cameron Winklevoss. The email states that Tyler, Cameron, and Divya are all advising Mark to take down the website he created otherwise they will consider taking some legal and ethnic actions. They believe that Mark stole the idea from them and if Mark himself does not take the website down, the next step for them will be to sue.
Both Mark and Eduardo recruit some of their other friends to help out with Facebook. Their friend Dustin will handle the other computer stuff that Mark won't have time to handle while Chris will be in charge of the publicity and getting the name known further elsewhere. The four of them together will all take the site to the next level. They all structure/divide up their works and responsibilities. Mark is the CEO/master/commander and will get 65% of the profit when they add advertisements. Eduardo is the CFO and will handle the business aspect of Facebook. He will get 30% of the profit. Dustin is the vice president and the head of programming and will get around 5% of the company while Chris is the director of publicity and will also get whatever is left. Mark suggests that they expand Facebook onto other schools but only to the elite schools for now. Yale, Columbia, and Stanford will have full access to the website. Still the schools will need too have a school e-mail address to log into the site.
Soon, Mark and Eduardo begin to adhere to the publicity they are receiving from Facebook. After all, the Asians girls they met the other night were interesting in talking to them because of their admiration for the website. Eduardo takes out the Asian girl that he likes and goes to the bathroom with her after their dinner. They both play around and have a little fun. A few minutes later, Eduardo witnesses some moaning sounds coming from the bathroom stall next to him. He then hears Mark's voice and realizes that Mark has more things in common than he thought. They both like to have fun and never realized that a website could get them girls they never thought they would have in a life time.
A few days later, the twins go visit the President of Harvard. They had booked an appointment with him and wanted to discuss with him the idea stolen from them by Mark. They had written a 10-page complaint prior to the meeting. When they meet the president, they begin to become frustrated because the president is making it seem as if their case isn't a big deal. He tells them that he does not see what the big issue is. Still, the twins persist and say according to the Harvard student rule book, what Mark did is an offense and he should be reprimanded for it. He also tells them that it is not a university issue and the dispute should be handled between the people involved. Basically, there is nothing he can do about it and they are on their own.
The next chapter begins with a guy called Sean Parker. He is living nearby the Stanford University campus and has access to a lot of the college girls out there. Sean has a lot of success on his behalf. He is the creator of a website called Napster, which is a music downloading website. His website had got shut down so he created another one with his friend called Plaxo.  Soon after Plaxo was created, the website also ended up badly. He now has nothing doing in his life. By the girls on campus and people everywhere, he is seen as a bad boy because he parties, sleeps with a lot of girls, and there are rumours that he does drugs. Throughout this time that Sean has been idle, he has been looking for a big opportunity to get his life back together. He has been searching for the next big thing that he will be a part of. He had heard about Friendster and Myspace but neither of the two were things he wanted too be part of.
Sean Parker then encounters the website "TheFacebook". He loves the idea of it being a social network website. He then looks to pursue the business - hoping that it will be his number 3 career venture after Napster and Plaxo. He schedules to meet up with Eduardo, Eduardo's girlfriend, and Mark at a Chinese restaurant in New York. They discuss a bit about how big the website can get if it is taken the right direction and Eduardo can see by Mark's expressions that he idolizes Sean. Eduardo and Mark had been attending various meetings with different companies to see if they can use the companies' advertisements on the website. Prior to Sean's interest in their website, no other company or businessmen had been interested in them.
Mark and his friends drop a bombshell to Eduardo. They opened up a new website and they will be going to California for the summer to see how that will work out. In addition, Mark will be hiring two interns to assist them. Meanwhile, Eduardo will be taking on an internship at one of his father's company and will also be attending a few meetings for Facebook. He is a bit nervous about being away from Mark for the summer but thinks that they can work on the website from different states. He also agrees to fund Mark's trip and everything else that involves money. Perhaps the separation will give them space to strengthen their business and of course, not much could possibly go wrong within a time span of three months.

"Sean reached across the table, going right for Mark-and Eduardo saw it, then and there-the look on Mark's face, the sudden flush in his cheeks and the brightness in his eyes. Pure idol worship." (Mezrich 155)

This quote shows me what it means to be great. Even the greatest/most successful people have idols that they look up to because that person has accomplished what s/he aspires to accomplish. Here, Mark is idolizing Sean Parker who is a successful programmer himself. Sean is the founder of Napster and Plaxo which were both successful before they got shut down. Sean comprehends Mark more than pretty much anyone does because he has done what Mark is doing. Therefore, he probably knows the best and can probably advice Mark on what to do better than anyone else, of course, if he has good intentions for Mark. I also like the way Mezrich described the idolization process that Mark is going through then lets the readers actually know what is happening. He is using the writing method "show, not tell". He describes the flush of Mark's cheeks and how his eyes lights up while conversing with Sean. However, I think that Mark should be aware of Sean. The first thing Sean does when reaching the table is making contact with Mark only even though Eduardo is next to Mark. If Sean has good intentions and wants to strengthen the company, I would think that he would also want to build up a good relationship with Eduardo as well. Maybe he figures that Mark is more gullible and if he wants to take advantage of someone connected with Facebook, Mark would be the guy. Still, I think that it is good to have idols but when you come up with a brilliant idea, there are going to be plenty of people out there seeking to be part of the idea and betray you. Hence, the title of the book, "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal." Perhaps Sean gains Mark's trust and somehow ends up betraying him...

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