Zuckerberg Looking for His Grownup

Help Wanted: Experienced tech executive to help run privacy-challenged social networking site valued at $15 billion despite having virtually no earnings.

Mark Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old founder of Facebook, is looking for a responsible adult, according to Boomtown's Kara Swisher.

Wonder where he got that idea?

"I would call it hiring an Un-Zuckerberg," said a Facebook source cited by Swisher, who reported that the company "is looking at naming a well-known tech executive to top management, as perhaps even a second-in-charge to Facebook C.E.O. and founder Mark Zuckerberg, to give him more experienced support."

After the Beacon "social advertising" P.R. disaster last fall, many observers concluded that Zuckerberg lacks the experience to run a $1 billion company, let alone a $15 billion company.

No one disputes that Zuckerberg had the vision and drive to build Facebook into the hottest social network on the Web. But if he wants the company to successfully go public--potentially earning him billions--he'd better bring in an experienced technology executive to run the business. After all, Larry Page and Sergey Brin tapped former Sun exec Eric Schmidt to come run Google. And that, it appears, turned out just fine.

The news of Zuckerberg's search for a responsible adult comes just days after news broke the Owen Van Natta, once Zuckerberg's right hand man, is planning to leave the company within the next few months.

For the time being, Zuckerberg remains resistant to actually letting go of the C.E.O. title. As Swisher writes:

Zuckerberg is intent on remaining C.E.O. of the startup, which has had a series of ups (hypergrowth, the $240 million investment from Microsoft that valued Facebook at an eye-popping $15 billion) and downs (the Beacon advertising debacle, the $240 million investment Microsoft that valued Facebook at an insane $15 billion).

Zuckerberg flatly said that in a phone interview I did with him earlier this week about the Van Natta departure.

"Yes," was his full answer when I asked him about whether he would remain in the top slot at the company. Pretty please, any more to add? "No."

Given that Facebook still faces major hurdles if it wants to go public sometime in the next few of years, it remains to be seen if Zuckerberg will soften his resistance to the idea of bringing in an Eric Schmidt-style executive to run the show.

In the tech world, it's difficult even for the most seasoned tech exec to be a visionary corporate evangelist, and be the chief executive of a major company.

Unless of course, you're this guy. And by all indications, Zuckerberg, well, isn't.

by Sam Gustin