Facebook went NASDAQ, three years ago today, May 17, 2012

Happy 3rd Year on NASDAQ Facebook! Three years ago today (Friday, May 17th) Facebook listed with Nasdaq and sold 421.2 million shares at $38 per share.

The initial public offering raised $16 billion (60% more than the expected $10 billion). (source: bloomburg.com).

There was so much hype months before Facebook's IPO.

When Facebook finally went public on May 17, 2012 (NASDAQ:FB) it would become infamous for having the worst stock disaster ever in the history of the U.S. equities market.

There was a computer glitch which forced thousands of independent investors to sell their stocks at a loss. Big institutional investors were not impacted as they were able to sell quickly. Unfortunately, that was not the case for small retail investors (everyday folks like me and you) who were unable to put in sell orders. Instead they watched helplessly as their FB stock share prices plummeted.

Quoteable Quote about Facebook choosing Nasdaq:
“Facebook on NASDAQ due to cultural fit" ~~ Charles Gasparino, senior correspondent Fox Business Network, prior to FB's IPO in 2012


RESOURCES:
- FB: Summary for Facebook, Yahoo Finance http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=FB
- The Immaculate IPO: What Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) Did Differently From Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) During Their IPO, IB Times, http://www.ibtimes.com/immaculate-ipo-what-twitter-nysetwtr-did-differently-facebook-nasdaqfb-during-their-ipo-1461108
- Why the Facebook (Nasdaq FB) Stock Price Will Double by 2018, Money Morning; http://moneymorning.com/2015/03/05/why-the-facebook-nasdaq-fb-stock-price-will-double-by-2018/
- Facebook IPO Makes Zuckerberg Richer Than Google Founders, Bloomberg.com; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-05-17/facebook-ipo-makes-zuckerberg-richer-than-google-founders

Facebook goes NASDAQ

“Facebook on NASDAQ due to cultural fit" ~~ Charles Gasparino, senior correspondent Fox Business Network


Facebook will list with Nasdaq and could raise $10 billion according to many people familiar with the IPO

Nasdaq, has been competing with NYSE Euronext Inc., for many IPO’s. According to senior correspondent for the Fox Business Network, Charles Gasparino, the NASDAQ win is due to a "cultural fit" and the fact that Facebook board members have connections to NASDAQ. Today's online article at A Wall Street Journal article titled “Facebook Tags the Nasdaq” mentions how many believe that Facebook’s offering (IPO set for May 2012) could raise $10 billion -- the biggest U.S. Internet IPO since Google in 2004

Why Are Corporate Blogs By Women Not Supported By Their Constituents?

"I do not think “real” leaders are the kind of paranoid people that get to the top quickly but fall quickly"
-- Grace Bosworth, President of Global 2 Local Language Solutions

"It's cool to get back up if you fall! But don't let the threatened and insecure -- males and females -- pull you down!" -- Gloria Buono-Daly

Whenever I begin another consulting assignment at a major corporation I observe and research the respective environment and Web site and end up with the same question -- “Why are the leading women's corporate blogs not being supported by women?”

This absence of commentary is a red flag and illustrates a much bigger problem at the company in the form of ineffective communication, counter-productivity, negativity and low morale. It only takes a few minutes to read a corporate blog and write a comment -- especially when the blogs are so interesting, informative and worthy of comments. For the past few years I have noticed that women at major corporations are not supporting fellow corporate women’s blogs.

Recently I contracted at a corporation with over 200,000 employees as a senior product marketing consultant and noticed that there were less than a dozen comments from one of their business unit's blogs yet there was a wealth of blogs on that corporate Web site. This lack of support is mind-boggling and serves no purpose but to breed negativity. How long can employees continue destroying what employers are paying them to build up?

Does this start from the top and trickle down to the bottom? Watch out, your company's stock may be headed for another plummet. I am always so positive and impressed by professionals when I work at a new corporation and learn about the company, especially by reading blogs from the corporate leaders, attending seminars, and navigating the corporate Web site. Yet, I do not understand why these major corporate blogs with the potential of having so many visits and views, do not receive the adequate feedback from fellow employees.

It ceases to amaze me of how the threatened and insecure employees intentionally thwart and insult the professional consultants -- the basis is obviously these employees are afraid that the new consultants will get noticed for their cost saving, productive contributions, and showing interest and support for corporate initiatives including blogs. Unfortunately, the productivity and business success is compromised because of these essentially useless and insecure employees. Yet, senior department heads are in the sand and corporations allow this to go on -- the familiar, AIG-ish, corporate status quo -- "Our government's bail-out money will pay our salaries; we're too big to fail," etc.

As a professional marketing executive who has been contracting for many Fortune 100 corporations and trust me, I get the big picture relatively quickly, I see many issues including lack of support, particularly among women executives. This is compromising the financial health of the corporation on a national and global level.

Negativity of this nature results in not only low employee morale and little or no ROI but dissatisfied customers.

Are professional women still living in the 1980’s when one women has to be thwarted in order for another women to succeed? Why is this sentiment common for women and not men? Could this be why professional women have not advanced as much as men? Have women turned competition into a game of back-stabbing tactics that do nothing but destroy the morale of a corporation? And what about corporate diversity and multi-culturalism -- is it destroying what women are working to achieve?

I believe corporate diversity is indeed compromised. Many top consultants have experienced their work thwarted and being intimidated by corporate employees. Whenever the consultants report the issue, their contract ends. A very common tactic, is when employees use inappropriate language in the form of misleading adjectives towards the consultant to make the consultant feel insignificant and themselves feel powerful and important. And we wonder why so few women make it to the top?

According to Grace Bosworth, President of Global 2 Local Language Solutions, “We wonder why women have not advanced as much as they should, but, when a women gets some kind of control, she acts as if she did it all by herself, and tries to push down anyone that comes near her level. We don’t try to help each other; we make it more difficult for each other. …The only thing I can control in this world is me, and I know that to change the world, I must first change myself. Do I look at a woman who has done well for herself with suspicion? Do I hesitate to spend time on a project that may not put me or my company in the limelight?… I do not think “real” leaders are the kind of paranoid people that get to the top quickly but fall quickly. We as women have to do better. Most of all, I vow to not say negative things about people I really don’t know. If we could all vow just that little thing, I see women taking great strides.”

So tell me do you believe corporate blogs by women are or are not being supported by their constituents? What are your favorite blogs? I’d be delighted to take a read, share my perspective and add them to this list.

Below is a listing of my latest favorite blogs by and about women:

► Women in Business Don’t Support Each Other, and We Are Here to Change That
► Is Eight Enough When It Comes to Success
► Got Me Thinking: Is the Model of Masculinity Changing in America?
► 25 Things a Professional Woman Should Never Wear     (I’ll admit my biggest faux pas was putting my then, waist-long-hair back with a schrunchie)
► Women Who Make Us Laugh
► Google Made Her Rich, Facebook Made Her A Legend
► 100 Must Read Blogs by Women
► Why You Should Stop Being A Wimp
► Employers Feel A Talent Shortage
► ClassyCareerGirl Blog
► Making Sure Your Employees Succeed
► Top 100 Websites for Women 2011
► The Importance of Earnest Service, Thoughts from JM Byington & Associates, Inc.

PS This list will change but only with your help. So do send me your favorite blogs, bookmark this one and visit frequently. Thanks!

Another specialty video: Think Deep and Grow Rich

ZENWAY = ZEN TRAINING + WARREN'S WAY! Another specialty video by Gloria Buono-Daly and Maria Benevenga for client Zenway.com. Financial IQ Training for Parents and Children. Zenway Group provides financial IQ tutoring for kids and coaching for parents. "Merging time-tested Zen mind IQ training into the proven Warren Buffett Way, we developed a system of unique practices and strategies to think deep and grow rich,"says founder Brian Zen.