????互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司上市時(shí)，公布“創(chuàng)始人公開(kāi)信”已成為一種純粹象征性的慣例,，類(lèi)似于進(jìn)軍股市的成人禮,。2004年,，谷歌（Google）上市時(shí),，拉里?佩奇和謝爾蓋?布林開(kāi)創(chuàng)了這個(gè)先河。去年,，團(tuán)購(gòu)網(wǎng)站Groupon啟動(dòng)首次公開(kāi)募股,，安德魯?梅森又將其提升到了一個(gè)可笑的新高度。

????如今,，馬克?扎克伯格也一試身手,，發(fā)表了自己的“創(chuàng)始人公開(kāi)信”，并在信中宣布了公司天真的初創(chuàng)理念,。這類(lèi)信件要么將自己的理念強(qiáng)加給準(zhǔn)股東們,，要么就是要變成公司的無(wú)價(jià)之寶，代代傳承,。然而,，市場(chǎng)有其自身的運(yùn)行規(guī)律，因此經(jīng)過(guò)緩慢痛苦的過(guò)程,，這些信件傳達(dá)的理念最終都難逃慘遭扼殺的命運(yùn),。

????上市公司的CEO偶爾會(huì)在IPO招股書(shū)中加入一封“致股東信”，但通常也只是涉及一些公關(guān)方面的內(nèi)容,，或者只是一封措辭友好的自薦信,。其內(nèi)容就像上市申請(qǐng)文件中充斥的那些圖片一樣，沒(méi)有任何實(shí)際意義,。但創(chuàng)始人公開(kāi)信卻截然不同,。它是硅谷獨(dú)特的產(chǎn)物。正是硅谷讓創(chuàng)業(yè)者們成為身兼社會(huì)理想主義與冷血資本主義兩種理念的混血兒,。

????谷歌的IPO招股書(shū)以一封信作為開(kāi)頭,，這封備受指責(zé)的信件開(kāi)宗明義，大膽地宣稱(chēng)：“谷歌不是一家傳統(tǒng)公司,，將來(lái)也不想成為一家傳統(tǒng)的公司,。”接著,，它又說(shuō)：“我們將為了長(zhǎng)期的目標(biāo)不斷完善自我,，而不僅僅是為了獲得每個(gè)月的穩(wěn)定收入。我們將為經(jīng)過(guò)精心挑選的高風(fēng)險(xiǎn),、高收益項(xiàng)目提供支持,?！?/p>

????但隨著機(jī)構(gòu)投資者在谷歌所占股份增加，同時(shí)大量員工相繼成為公司股東,，作為一家上市公司,，谷歌不得不面對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)。盡管谷歌一開(kāi)始極力回避圈錢(qián)游戲,，但如今的谷歌儼然已經(jīng)成了一把賺錢(qián)的好手,。到了去年夏天，拉里?佩奇在重新獲得任命,、成為CEO后召開(kāi)的首次投資者盈利電話(huà)會(huì)議上,，他目空一切的言辭已經(jīng)有所收斂。佩奇對(duì)分析師和投資者們稱(chēng)：“雖然在個(gè)別時(shí)候,，我們會(huì)有一些小型項(xiàng)目存在風(fēng)險(xiǎn),，但我們將始終作為投資者的管家，替他們精心管理資金,。我們不會(huì)拿全部身家去冒險(xiǎn),。”

????去年六月份,，Groupon申請(qǐng)上市時(shí),，梅森在招股說(shuō)明書(shū)中也放進(jìn)了一封“創(chuàng)始人公開(kāi)信”。像谷歌一樣,，信中對(duì)于季度盈利等投資者普遍關(guān)注的問(wèn)題同樣不屑一顧,，只不過(guò)，梅森的措辭更加不靠譜,。梅森說(shuō)：“我們特立獨(dú)行,，而且樂(lè)在其中?！敝?，他便開(kāi)始喋喋不休地講述“火舞”課程，大談避免枯燥乏味的重要性,。

????此外,，梅森還警告潛在投資者們，Groupon“將注重長(zhǎng)期增長(zhǎng),，而不會(huì)太過(guò)于關(guān)注短期結(jié)果”,，而且公司將根據(jù)“我們直覺(jué)的偉大因素”來(lái)制定決策。之后,，他在CEO致股東的一封信中,，又說(shuō)出了下面這樣極端不合時(shí)宜的話(huà)：“我們只關(guān)心客戶(hù)和商戶(hù)。”目前,，Groupon的股價(jià)比20美元的發(fā)行價(jià)上漲了15%,。下周，公司將提交上市之后的首份收益報(bào)告,。如果這份收益報(bào)告,、或者以后的報(bào)告無(wú)法令投資者們滿(mǎn)意，投資者必然會(huì)向Groupon施壓,，迫使公司將股東加入到公司最關(guān)注對(duì)象的名單中,。

????Facebook上周三提交的IPO招股說(shuō)明書(shū)中，扎克伯格也附上了“創(chuàng)始人公開(kāi)封信”,，不過(guò)與Groupon或谷歌強(qiáng)硬的措辭相比,，扎克伯格更加溫和,。其中最強(qiáng)硬的措辭是：“我們始終以我們的社會(huì)使命作為主要關(guān)注點(diǎn),。”可問(wèn)題在于,，他對(duì)公司社會(huì)使命的描述,，聽(tīng)起來(lái)道貌岸然，實(shí)際上完全不是那么回事,。

????For Internet companies going public, the founder's letter is becoming a ritual with a purely symbolic value, a rite of passage into the adulthood of public markets. Larry Page and Sergey Brin started it when Google (GOOG) went public in 2004. Andrew Mason raised it to absurd new heights when Groupon (GRPN) launched its IPO last year.

????Now Mark Zuckerberg's has tried his hand at the founder's letter, the na?ve declaration of the company's startup ideals. Whether thrust defiantly into the faces of would-be shareholders or proffered delicately as a corporate heirloom of inestimable value, such epistles are doomed to enter into a slow, painful strangulation as market forces have their way.

????CEOs of companies going public will occasionally include a letter to shareholders in IPO prospectuses, but it's usually no more than a bit of PR, a friendly cover letter as meaningless as the stock photos that sometimes clutter the filings. But the founder's letter is different. It is a unique product of Silicon Valley, where startups grow up as hybrids of social idealism and cold-blooded capitalism.

????Google's IPO prospectus began with an infamous letter that boldly declared: "Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one" before asserting, "We will optimize for the long term rather than trying to produce smooth earnings for each quarter. We will support selected high-risk, high-reward projects."

????But as institutional investors came to own a larger piece of Google, and as many of the company's employees became its shareholders, the realities of being a publicly traded company began to sink in. Google became quite adept at the earnings game it first shunned. By last summer, in Larry Page's first earnings call with investors since being reappointed as CEO, his defiant rhetoric had been toned down. "We may have a few small speculative projects happening at any given time but we're very careful stewards of shareholder money," page told analysts and investors on the call. "We're not betting the farm on this stuff."

????When Groupon filed to go public last June, Mason included in the prospectus a founder's letter that, like Google's, shrugged off standard investor concerns like quarterly earnings -- only Mason employed a flakier rhetoric. "We are unusual and we like it that way," Mason said, before rattling on about fire-dancing classes and the importance of not being boring.

????Mason also warned would-be investors that Groupon would "invest in long-term growth... regardless of certain short-term consequences" and make decisions based on "what we feel in our gut to be great." Then, in what must be one of the most irreverent lines in a CEO letter to shareholders, "Our customers and merchants are all we care about." Groupon, trading 15% above its $20 offering price, will deliver its first earnings report as a public company next week. Any disappointment in that or future earnings reports could result in investor pressure that adds a third group to the list of things Groupon cares about -- shareholders.

????In the IPO prospectus Facebook filed Wednesday, Zuckerberg wrote a founder's letter that is more conciliatory than defiant in tone than Groupon or Google's letters. The harshest phrase he used was "we've always cared primarily about our social mission." But the problem is, when he describes that social mission, he ends up sounding pious and, well, plain wrong.