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With all the hoopla surrounding Facebook's IPO, is it surprisingthat something went wrong? Facebook's IPO process is now beingscrutinized closely, with regulators looking into impropriety onthe part of the banks. There were "leaked" upbeat memos about thecompany. There were last-minute reductions in revenue forecastswhile the bankers were pumping the price higher and higher. Someinvestors may have had more information than others. There wereeven technical glitches with NASDAQ's systems that disruptedtrading. More "innocent" mistakes than a toddler makes in years. Maybe the IPO was mishandled. If we had a more functionalSecurities and Exchange Commission, perhaps it would have madeFacebook redo its IPO filing documents, which would have given someinvestors pause, and might have forced further tuning of a varietyof key accounting metrics, all in full public view. Moving forward, Facebook needs to do one thing right: Mature into agreat company that constantly innovates based not on just MarkZuckerberg's vision alone, but with lots of help, feedback anddirection from its nearly 1 billion users. Ask Rupert Murdoch andMySpace about the importance of staying exciting, compelling andrelevant to customers. Or Yahoo, or dozens of other companies thatwere so focused on their quarterly numbers and stock prices thatthey lost focus of their users and watched them drift away. Was a$38 FB share a great deal? Don't ask me this week -- ask me a yearor two from now. The Facebook IPO is remarkable for another reason, though: It couldchange the investing culture of Silicon Valley forever. Startups can now think about a "total available market" in thebillions of users (smart phones, tablets, PCs, etc.) and try toreach a customer base that was unimaginable even decades ago. Andas more people use their devices/apps 24/7 -- possibly in some sortof social way -- the potential revenue that can be generated wouldbe enormous. For that reason, investor money is suddenly racing toward socialmedia. Years ago, a great venture capitalist could make a solidreturn on an investment in about a decade or less. Now, a simplephoto-sharing app like Instagram can be valued at $1 billion inless than three years. But what's great for making tons of money may not be the same aswhat's great for innovation or for our country. In Silicon Valley,the investor flight to social media marks the beginning of the endof the era of venture capital-backed big ideas in science andtechnology. Social media is the pot of gold that everyone wants a piece ofright now. Will it change the way people interact? Stay tuned. Willit make the world a better place? Hard to say. In the meantime, there isn't a whole lot to be learned inFacebook's first week or month of trading. We'll just have to seeif this social media giant grows into a solid and profitablecompany over time. Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of SteveBlank. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Cold Laser Equipment , Ultrasonic Cavitation Machine Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Vacuum Slimming Machine today!
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