We saved the best for last. Below is our interview with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week. Sandberg, who says this is her first video interview since joining Facebook in March 2008, talks with me for about nine minutes about the conference and the state of Facebook.
Sandberg has attended six World Economic Forum events at Davos over the years, including four as part of the Clinton administration. This year was a more somber event than normal, she says.
We spoke briefly about the impact that the Facebook community had on the event through the polls created by Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Director of Marketing. During one panel, 120,000 Facebook users weighed in on the U.S. economic stimulus package.
Sandberg on her first year at Facebook: “It’s been great. Facebook is a really exciting place trying to do something really important that I really believe in. And it matters. You go to different things from users to marketers to people like Obama running for office, who really want to connect with people and want a more authentic way to communicate and to listen and I think we are one of the forces and in some ways the leading force helping to provide that and that’s just a really exciting thing to be a part of.”
On the fact that 1 in 5 worldwide Internet users are on Facebook: “So we have 4 in 5 more to go. To get everyone connected. Joking aside, we want everyone in the world to be connected. Through Facebook, through technology, not just through us. But we really believe in enabling people to be their authentic selves on the web, and enabling people to communicate directly with each other in a very personal way.”
Sandberg also promised that users would be able to add more than 5,000 friends sometime soon (something we first wrote about last year). She said “I’m not going to give you a specific date, but I will reinforce the message that this is coming, and more importantly tell you why we think it’s important. Because you have these friend requests because people genuinely want to hear from you and genuinely want to connect with you. We’re not providing that functionality and we think that’s important so we are working on this and we’re working on it currently. We look forward to your having 80,000 friends… 100,000 friends.”
Our other interviews from Davos: Chris DeWolfe (MySpace), Robert Kalin (Etsy), Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Ed Sanders/Amit Sood (YouTube/Google Earth). You can also watch the panel I moderated with Chad Hurley (YouTube), Craig Mundie (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Shananu Narayen (Adobe), Hamid Akhvan (T-Mobile) and Eric Clemons (Wharton) here.
Full transcript:
Michael Arrington: I am here with Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, and we’re at the end of the World Economic Forum at Davos. So, how was Davos for you this year?
Sheryl Sandberg: Interesting. I’ve been here before so you can kind of feel the different moods. I’d say this is the most somber Davos I’ve been to.
Michael Arrington: How many have you been to?
Sheryl Sandberg: Six I believe – four, a long time ago when I was working in the Clinton government, and last year. During the Clinton years there was an Asian financial crisis and I would say the mood then was not as up, but the pessimism was constrained to one part of the economic sphere, which was really Asia and some of the Latin American countries.
Michael Arrington: The NASDAQ was still way up then..
Sheryl Sandberg: Here there’s a real pessimism, and I think it’s earned – where is the economy going to bottom out? What don’t we understand?
Michael Arrington: This is your first Davos as a Facebook executive. Is it any different? Are people approaching you for different things? To talk about different things? What is this community giving you? What is this community giving you, what are you giving back, to this community?
Sheryl Sandberg: At Facebook we feel a lot of affinity not just for this community but for any community that is trying to do what Davos is trying to do, which is to share information. And Davos is doing it in a particular way – I think the Facebook approach is obviously more broad-based, we’re trying to include everyone in the world. But the goal is the same: bring people together, to share information and make the world more connected, and have people have a deeper understanding of themselves, others, the communities of which they want to be a part and can be a part. This has been a great year at Davos for Facebook. We’ve done a bunch of things including some polls from the stage, which has been really exciting.
Michael Arrington: Randi Zuckerberg did a poll that had around 500 responses in a matter of seconds..
Sheryl Sandberg: Yeah, I think the most compelling thing we had was there was a panel here which was on the situation in Congress with the US. And the panelists were talking about the stimulus package, and the assumption on the panel was that people were for it, and it would pass, there’s some tinkering to do. And Randi did a poll from the stage in twenty minutes, 120,000 responses, 70% of whom were against it. They said, “I don’t believe in the stimulus package”.
Michael Arrington: This was during the panel..
Sheryl Sandberg: During the panel, real live, 120,000 responses. Now it’s not a representative full sampling of the US population, but that’s a lot of responses. It completely changed the panel… The panel then were talking about, “wow, a lot of people are against this, what are we going to do?” And I think that’s exciting because Davos is a pretty exclusive thing. And the voice of people who were not invited – while everyone is always trying to get it in here, I don’t know how much you can do that.
Michael Arrington: Yeah, but you inserted it directly into a panel.
Sheryl Sandberg: Yeah, and the times I’ve been here [it was] the most direct voice of the people I’ve seen inserted into a panel so I think that was pretty exciting.
Michael Arrington: Was that an on-the-record panel with the video up on the site?
Sheryl Sandberg: I don’t know… It’s pretty exciting to take real people living in the real world, their opinions, and have people have to react to that. As opposed to their perceptions of what people are thinking, which are often very different.
Michael Arrington: So how was your first year at Facebook? We’re coming up on the one year mark in March.
Sheryl Sandberg: Yes, coming up on the one year mark. It’s been great. Facebook is a really exciting place trying to do something really important that I really believe in. And it matters. You go to different things from users to marketers to people like Obama running for office, who really want to connect with people and want a more authentic way to communicate and to listen and I think we are one of the forces and in some ways the leading force helping to provide that and that’s just a really exciting thing to be a part of.
Michael Arrington: How many users do you have now? 150 million?
Sheryl Sandberg: 150 million..
Michael Arrington: But it’s actually above that, you just don’t announce it. Every few months..
Sheryl Sandberg: *Laughs* We update it regularly.
Michael Arrington: Why does Comscore say 200 million people visit the site every month? Is it just Comscore is off or…
Sheryl Sandberg: An active user for us is someone who comes every month, at least once a month. I don’t know exactly how Comscore is measuring it.
Michael Arrington: You realize it’s like 1 in 5 people in the world that are on the internet visit Facebook.
Sheryl Sandberg: So we have 4 in 5 more to go. To get everyone connected. Joking aside, we want everyone in the world to be connected. Through Facebook, through technology, not just through us. But we really believe in enabling people to be their authentic selves on the web, and enabling people to communicate directly with each other in a very personal way.
Michael Arrington: So.. Revenue. You own revenue in the company, is that right?
Sheryl Sandberg: I definitely work on revenue, have responsibility for revenue.
Michael Arrington: So what’s monthly revenue now?
Sheryl Sandberg: Oh, you know, three dollars. $3.52 precisely.
Michael Arrington: How do you feel about revenue, where do you feel the big growth opportunities are? Do you have any new products? Micropayments for the developers, anything like that that you’re willing to talk about now?
Sheryl Sandberg: No product announcements on this video, that will disappoint but not surprise you. But you know it’s funny, a lot of people will say, “what’s Facebook’s business model?” I always find that a kind of funny question. Our business model is out there, which is: we monetize largely through advertising and a little bit through the gift revenue, the virtual gifts we have on our site. I think those continue to be the most promising avenues going forward. I think what you will see from us – you’ve seen from us some last year but you’ll see a lot this year – are the evolution of the advertising products so that they can be more targeted for advertisers and provide useful interactions for users. And I think we’re actually having a good year so far, a good quarter, and looking forward to more growth.
Michael Arrington: So you have direct ad sales, you have a team, and then you have the self-serve ads and we’ve actually looked at the self serve ads quite a bit and advertisers seem to love that. You said you have virtual gifts, but what about that micropayments platform for developers, I mean that’s a way for you to make additional money and they’re begging for it.
Sheryl Sandberg: Nothing to announce today.
Michael Arrington: Didn’t you guys already announce it a year ago?
Sheryl Sandberg: Yeah, we did do that… We haven’t updated that announcement and part of being a startup is, you know you announce things, you try to get there… not going to give anything else. Other than the $3.52. Obviously a very specific announcement.
Michael Arrington: Give me one thing then, give me more than 5,000 friends, this was promised to me personally not a year ago but close. And they’re just piling up. The friend requests are just piling up. And I know it’s only a small percentage of users have that need for more than 5,000 friends, but I’m one of them. When do I get that?
Sheryl Sandberg: I’m not going to give you a specific date, but I will reinforce the message that this is coming, and more importantly tell you why we think it’s important. Because you have these friend requests because people genuinely want to hear from you and genuinely want to connect with you. We’re not providing that functionality and we think that’s important so we are working on this and we’re working on it currently. We look forward to your having 80,000 friends… 100,000 friends.
Michael Arrington: I want to be friends with everyone that wants to be friends with TechCrunch. I don’t know if they really want to be friends with me or if they want to be friends with TechCrunch. But I want to add everyone, right now they’re piling up. What do you think of your hotel? I forgot to ask you that.. I’ve asked everyone that. It’s a 2 star hotel at a 5 star price.
Sheryl Sandberg: Yeah, it’s not the nicest hotel I’ve stayed at this year. I was a little scared at first because I walked into the room and there was no bed. I have a Murphy bed.
That’s interesting…next time you guys go out there you need to bring a tripod and a shotgun mic!
Nice interview though.
Yep, I’m having a tough time hearing her. That happens with our P&S cam videos too.
The Facebook COO said in her interview that she really wants everyone to be able to go on Facebook and be their “authentic selves” around the 4:30 mark of the video. I say that is one huge lie and here is why.
In my status updates on my Facebook account I asked my Facebook friends to follow me on Twitter and than linked to my Twitter profile. The next time I went to login to my Facebook account after I made that status update I was unable too as my account was closed. I than emailed Facebook customer service and they said they would look into things for me. Later that day I went and tried to login again and it worked, with no follow up email from Facebook customer service. (Yes I input my correct password each time I tried to login).
So basically they closed my account down because I asked my friends to come to Twitter, being my authentic self, and in doing so they hoped I wouldn’t put up a fight and ask them what was going on with my account. Very fishy if you ask me.
Facebook has really lost it’s star power in my opinion after it started letting everyone join the Social Network and not just people who were in Universities or Colleges. Facebook just followed suit with what MySpace, Hi5, etc were doing.
Additionally a few months ago when they implemented the changes for the new Facebook layout, many hundreds of thousands of people joined Facebook groups supporting the fact that they did not like the new changes to the site and yet Mark still went ahead with it in the hopes that the new layout would make it easier for them to monetize their users.
The truth is Facebook has terrible customer service, they steal everything you upload to their site by putting in small print in the EULA you have to agree to that everything you upload is no longer your property, but the property of Facebook.
All of the party photos of you smoking weed and hitting beer bongs are the property of Facebook and you will never get them back after they are uploaded.
Who do you think Facebook shares all of the data they collect on Society with? Most likely the CIA and the US Government as well as any other companies that pay top dollar for it (Microsoft).
Stay away from Facebook, they are shady in what they say and do. Mark stole the Facebook concept from his friends in the early days, when it was called The Facebook, so what makes you think that he wont take advantage of you.
When you mention “Facebook has really lost it’s star power in my opinion after it started letting everyone join the Social Network and not just people who were in Universities or Colleges” I guess you refer to its exclusive status.
The point is that they had no option other than expand at a worldwide scale because of competition. But I think you are right in the fact they did not wait enough to improve the product in ,let’s say, the big lab of Colleges and Universities and then release a much complete product with all possible problems solved (privacy, apps..). I dont know but things look a little bit too hurried or precipitated. Success thirst?
i don’t understand the hotel question.. what hotel are you referring to in the last paragraph?
you’ve got to listen to the other interviews I linked to as well. The hotel we all stayed in was absurd – murphy beds, no wifi or internet, overheated rooms so we had to open the doors to the outside where it was freezing, meaning we all got sick, and water controls that were impossible (DeWolfe says he burned himself, I came close). I asked everyone what they thought of it.
Well Davos is a place where only a few select celebrities are supposed spend their megabucks
Why they hold a conference like this there when it clearly can’t hold up to the event’s demand for infrastructure is beyond me. Maybe they want to minimize media attention and paparazzi rate that way 
Wow very informative thanks for sharing! Saw it up on Twitter.
She is lame and the whole company is lame.
Did she memorize the founders lingo? “facebook is a was to communicate…blah blah blah… so dumb. Not a real business… anyone remember Prodigy LOL. NEXT
yeah, the hotel portion seemed a little random. Great insight nonetheless though!
cooljobsonline
http://tinyurl.com/7uj5ay
is facebook a cult? because everyone there speaks in the same tone and repeats the same message “bring people together, to share information and make the world more connected, and have people have a deeper understanding of themselves, others, the communities of which they want to be a part and can be a part”. again is facebook a cult
I think it’s simply fantastic that Facebook was at Davos. Good grief they’ve come into the mainstream.
they were there because most ‘real’ companies are busy making money and opted not to show up this year so they had room for the ‘facebooks’ of the world.
we shall see how fast they burn through MSFT’s money and then lets see if they send their ‘exec’s’ to Davos on their dime.
Let’s face it. Facebook has a big problem of cash, and little time (counted in VCs dollars they are burning). Thing is that to monetize 150 million profiles and their interaction without annoying them with privacy concerns you need more than 2 days of wishful thinking. Ads are a good way to start (nothing original, but taking it to a higher level, is facebook something original? Anyway..).
Sending their COO may be good for making partnerships or looking answers outside (even in a crappy hotel.. kidding). They should work hard on micropayments to start building a business around apps (just like Michael said and Apple did with App Store).
But to be frank, apps are kinda crappy on Facebook. I mean everybody was looking forward wonderful and impressive apps that would complete facebook concept as a real platform. Why didn’t it happen? I think it’s because of it’s bad, corrupt (lets face it) and variable policy. Verified Apps is a good way to put your hand on democratic rankings. Thanks God Google wasn’t that evil. Anybody remembers NCAA Sport App?
What about press? I mean they are so so secretive. I can’t remember any interview where they didn’t use sentences such as “it’s confidential”, “as a private company, we don’t answer…”, “no announcements”. Add to this Zuckerbergs current personality which really changed from a shy smart guy (I changed my mind reading Eduardo Saverin and Winklevoss Bros affair) to a pigheaded cocky kid who can’t leave a stage without saying “facebook is a was to communicate that brings people together…”. Argh, why didn’t Jeff Weiner take the CEO job?
This is great, especially that they are allowing people to have more than 5000 friends. Mike’s right in that this isn’t a huge request for most, but allowing people to connect to everybody without limitation, so great content can be shared, is why Facebook has done so well.
Everyone’s hating on FB. Everyone hates on what’s popular and relevant to millions of users. What have YOU done lately to make a mark on the world? Cult? Sure it is. Real company? They have a revenue model and are a for-profit business. Whether they succeed or fail, it HAS made a very large mark on the world and this has to be recognized by everyone who is part of this generation of tech-savvy users. I hope something more positive comes out of it instead of mySpace, which is a just a chaotic mess.
Well done on trying to get the revenue answer to slip! Hilarious.
Great interview Mike.
the great interview, in order to know more detailed of the facebook, we need pay more attention to it.
Sheryl seems way more personable than in the picture that you always show on techcrunch. Great interview.
Invest in a tripod!
Good interview. Was actually quite impressed with her delivery. If anything, something has become crystal clear and that is Zuck should never hold an interview without adult supervision. At least Sandberg exudes some confidence.
She is pretty
With upcoming of MySpace, Facebook and other social media websites and networks Google percentage of visitors have decreased but till date Google remains unbeatable.
Man she seems like a really genuine person very charismatic. I like the way she dealt with the questions and her honesty and quirky sense of humour. In my books – Sheryl Sandberg A+
Thanks for posting that Mike.
Cheers – Eric
If Facebook allows users to have more than 5,000 friends, that’ll be a big negative. What does that have to do with Sandberg’s goal of allowing you to be your “authentic self” — so you can mass promote yourself like MySpace users do? The large friend counts have ushered in numerous problems on MySpace. Spammers are incentivized to make huge accounts and spam people, or sell the account on eBay to the highest bidder. More commonly, people start seeing the network as a place for self-promotion rather than real relationships. Facebook has a copied a number of things from MySpace, some for good and some for bad. This would definitely be a mistake for Facebook!
@Daniel Davies – That’s how it has been for the longest time…
@Facebook User – We created a social network with a purpose …. one that allows people to get help for addictions and ironically enough, one of the biggest addictions on Beating Addiction (http://www.Beat...ngAddiction.com) is Facebook (profile page here)
uh, michael, bragging about how you’re able to last for all of 9 minutes with a woman isn’t great site content…
Michael, your coverage is awesome BUT you need a cameraperson and especially a MICROPHONE! The audio quality and your camera work truthfully sucks. It’s sub-standard and unprofessional. Why waste the time of these important people by not capturing their audio appropriately. Seriously. I’m shocked by your unprofessionalism with regard to the technical quality of these recordings, and please don’t give me any kind of UGC bull. I respect what you are doing and value TechCrunch enormously or I wouldn’t both voicing this complaint. As an avid follower, I’m very disappointed that you keep posting videos of such poor technical quality. It pains me to see you getting such good access to quality interviews and treating them with such disrespect.