Facebook and Occam's Razor

Every month or two, the employees at Facebook run what are known as Hackathons. For 24 hours straight, all the participants try to work on a new project that could improve Facebook. The "Like" button and the ability to upload videos on Facebook were just two applications that were invented out of such a Hackathon event.

Mark Zuckerberg believes that most good applications are the simplest ones, and therefore one should be able to create a great program within a short period of time. This is why the Hackathon only takes places for 24 hours.

Occam's Razor posits that the simplest solution is often the best one. If you are struggling with a business problem, or if you are trying to create a new business, keep it simple. If it works for Facebook, it'll probably work for you. If that sounds too simple, well, that's kind of the point.