The Update:
Something that I have been wanting to write about for a while are some of the interesting personalities that are running the vision for product beneath Meta’s Zuckerberg. I like to separate these characters from the likes of Cheryl Sandberg and David Wehner who, while important, don’t often have the same insights into the nature of Meta’s product offerings. The two most interesting players are Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth, who led Augmented and Virtual Reality and will soon transition into the role of CTO, and Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram.
The contrast between the two personalities is striking. Bosworth seems to embody the early Facebook catch cry of ‘move fast and break things’. Some describe him as brash, upfront, and as the type to speak first, and think later. His physical demeanour backs up that description: he’s tall, heavy set, often dressed in jeans or shorts, with a flannelette shirt. He is, of course, wickedly insightful, and perhaps too forthcoming with that. His 2016 memo titled ‘The Ugly’, which was widely derided in the media, was one of those rare insights into the company that laid out the cold, hard truth of it’s operating mission. He was one of the first 15 engineering hires at Facebook and, most brilliantly, is widely credited for bridging Facebook’s transition from desktop to mobile. More recently he has been promoted to Meta CTO replacing Mike Schroepfer.
Mosseri, who replaced Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2018, emodies a different vibe - to use a millennial colloquialism. Soft spoken, almost effeminate, and dapper, Mosseri embodies the kind of stylish male that would, ironically, make a popular Instagram influencer. There’s more than just a pleasing demeanour, however, Mosseri has the unusual combination of a lightening quick intellect and empathetic thoughtfulness that makes one feel assured and at ease at the same time. It might be rash to accuse him of being a politician, but one can’t help but feel that he is adept in that arena. His rise within Facebook, and then lateral into Instagram is interesting. He joined Facebook in 2008 as product designer, shifted into mobile by 2012, lead News Feed until 2016, and then took over product until 2018. Mosseri has painted his shift to Instagram as an attempt to take on a role that would allow him to spend more time with his two kids. That is a strange preamble to taking over the leadership of one of the planet’s five fastest growing apps. He was able to ingratiate himself with Instagram founders Systrom and Krieger, who attempted to recruit Mosseri as an advocate for them at Facebook proper. Systrom and Krieger left abruptly and Mosseri was named Head of Instagram in their wake.
What they have in common, however, is much more interesting than the superficial and stylistic characteristics that set them apart. Both decided, presciently, to distance themselves from the branding of Facebook in the wake of mounting scandals in and before 2018. The political savvy on both their parts is impressive. On one hand Boz moved to lead virtual and augmented reality. Zuckerberg, as far back as 2016, had been illustrating his view for what would become the Metaverse. Bosworth’s impressive reputation, garnered by transitioning Facebook from one computing medium to another, fits perfectly with Zuckerberg’s view of that Metaverse. The next computing platform will be built around it, and who better to lead it?
Mosseri was a vocal internal critic at Facebook during the 2018 Cambridge Analytica Scandal, and has been pressing the need for greater safety and privacy ever since. This was a message that was headed, and there are tens of billions of dollars in Capex since to prove it. The lateral to Instagram was masterful. Instagram is perhaps Meta’s most important property, and likely a huge contributor to it’s financial performance. The branding is sleek and uncontroversial. Importantly, it is extremely difficult for bad actors to hijack; the risks to it’s reputation going forward are much lower than Facebook’s. Mosseri widely publicises the fact that he made a sincere promise to all Instagram employees that he wouldn’t make any meaningful changes within the first six months of his tenure - a promise that he broke only to beef up content moderation at the subsidiary. Aside from Zuckerberg himself, Mosseri is perhaps the person most closely associated with safety and privacy at Meta. His constellation of attributes, ability to stay ‘on message’, and public persona are likely the reasons senior leadership at Meta would have approved him appearing before congress, in lieu of Zuckerberg himself.
Importantly, they are both influential on policy at Meta, and clearly have the trust of Zuckerberg. From time to time, Bosworth will be described in the media as a ‘loyalist’ - which is of course meant as an insult. I see things differently. Reciprocity, trust, and the ability to influence each-other are key to a sustainable working relationship. Founders in acquired subsidiaries, like Instagram and Whatsapp, seldom stay for long because these dynamics are impossible to establish, if at all to maintain.
As an avid follower of the company, I’m excited to hear many more of Bosworth’s indiscreet missives - I doubt Mosseri will give us much of the same!