Don't ask how to do it, ask why you do it

Today I want to discuss the topic of changing the world. Many people will ask me how to create a business or how to solve a problem. But today I want to discuss a different issue. It is not "how to create", but "why to create", this is the essence of the mission.

I want to say 3 stories. The first story is about "believe in your mission."

In 2004, I created Facebook because I think it is very important to connect with people online. At that time, there were a lot of websites on the Internet, you could find almost everything, such as news, music, books, movies, goods... But no service can help us find the most important part of life - people.

So, when I started Facebook, I didn't want to create a company, I wanted to solve a very important problem - I wanted to connect people together. When you have a mission, it will make you more focused.

The second story is about "intention."

When I was at Harvard, I launched the first version of Facebook. At the beginning, someone said: "Facebook is only for students, so it never matters." But we continue to do it, open Facebook to all people. Then someone said: "Maybe it is useful in the United States, but it will not be useful in other countries." We continue to do so and extend to other countries in the world.

Others said: "Social media will never make money." We continue to do and build a strong business system. Then someone said: "People don't use Facebook on their mobile phones." But we continue to do it, and now we have established a mobile-centric company. We have been working hard and now 1.5 billion people are using Facebook.

Don't give up because you want to change. I think China has a very good saying: "As long as the effort is deep, the iron is grinded into a needle." Always working hard, you will change the world.

The third story is about "looking forward."

I really like what Ma Yun said: "Compared with 15 years ago, we are very big; but compared with 15 years later, we are still a baby."

Ten years ago, our goal was to connect 1 billion people. Because there was no Internet company before, we think this is a big goal. When we reached this goal, we began to realize that 1 billion is just a number, and our real goal is to connect everyone in the world.

This is the meaning of looking forward. Every step you take, you can do something new. You didn't think it was possible before, and it is possible now. When you face a very big challenge, if you work hard, you may overcome these challenges.

You should trust your mission, solve important problems, be very careful, don't give up, keep looking forward.