Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth

Chief Technology Officer at Meta

CTO of Meta and one of the first engineers at Facebook (joined 2006); created the Facebook News Feed, built the original mobile ads platform, helped build Groups, Messaging, and Timeline; created Meta's AR/VR organization (Reality Labs); leads Quest and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

The Operator The Visionary

Dimension Profile

Strategic Vision 80%

Execution & Craft 80%

Data & Experimentation 60%

Growth & Distribution 70%

Team & Leadership 80%

User Empathy & Research 50%

Key Themes

early Facebook engineering culture News Feed creation and backlash communication as the job Meta turnaround lessons asking your manager for help AR/VR and mixed reality future

Episode Summary

Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth, Meta's CTO and one of Facebook's first engineers, shares stories and lessons from his 18-year tenure including creating the News Feed, building the mobile ads platform, and leading Reality Labs. He discusses why communication becomes the primary job of a leader, the truth behind the News Feed backlash (users doubled their usage while complaining), and lessons from Meta's recent turnaround.

Leadership Principles

→ Communication is the job — the higher you go, the more your impact comes from how well you communicate, not what you build
→ Newsfeed was easier than people suspect: everyone was outraged while simultaneously doubling their usage of the product — watch behavior, not complaints
→ Don't romanticize the startup grind — most romantic stories come from successes, but at the time it's not glamorous, just painful

Notable Quotes

"Newsfeed was an easier case than people suspect. Everyone was outraged at the same time as they immediately doubled their usage of the product."
— On the famous backlash to the Facebook News Feed he helped create

"I didn't sleep for more than four hours at a time. I'd wake up every four hours and check the report and see if anyone was attacking the site. They don't tell you about that stuff in the movies."
— On the reality of early Facebook engineering

"I don't want to take away from the romanticism of it. It's just that most often, we hear those romantic stories from the successes. It's a healthy thing for people to want to throw themselves into something and take that risk, but it is not glamorous at the time."
— On survivorship bias in startup narratives

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