Mark Zuckerberg Once Revealed One Thing Movies Often Get 'All Wrong' And Why He Thinks It's A 'Dangerous Lie'

Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg is again challenging the Hollywood version of innovation, warning graduates that the myth of a lone "eureka moment" is not just wrong but harmful.

Zuckerberg Dismantles The Lone Genius Myth

In his 2017 Harvard commencement address, the billionaire said "movies and pop culture get this all wrong," calling "the idea of a single eureka moment" a "dangerous lie" that leaves people feeling inadequate and stops those with promising ideas from even starting.

Zuckerberg told students that real breakthroughs emerge from trial and error, not sudden genius, and that "ideas don't come out fully formed" but become clear only through continued work. He said if he'd needed to understand everything about connecting people before he began, he never would have started Facebook.

From Dorm Room Project To Global Platform

He recalled launching Facebook from his Harvard dorm, saying he only hoped to connect classmates and assumed a bigger company would eventually link the world. The notion that his side project would become a multitrillion-dollar social network never crossed his mind at the time.

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Zuckerberg also argued that "finding your purpose isn't enough," urging young people to build projects so large they give other people purpose as well. Building those movements, he said, takes years, the confidence to act before the path is clear, and a thick skin.

Other Business Titans Echo The Same Message

Other entrepreneurs agree with Zuckerberg. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos has told shareholders that Amazon aims to be "the best place in the world to fail" and that failure and invention are "inseparable twins."

In a separate interview, Bezos cautioned that "thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy" and argued that people often overestimate risk and underestimate opportunity. Investor Ray Dalio praised Bezos's insistence on a "willingness to repeatedly fail" as a prerequisite for invention.

Similarly, Bill Gates calls "avoid risk" the worst advice he ever received and says "failure" is a better teacher than success, especially early in a career. Warren Buffett, meanwhile, has told young investors to choose work and colleagues they truly care about, aligning ambition with long-term purpose rather than fear of missteps.

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