Usually when a company sees its stock price sliced in half the CEO takes to the airwaves to reassure anxious investors and heavily stock-optioned employees. But flouting convention is a hallmark of Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the right strategy.
Facebook reached a dubious milestone this week as its stock fell to less than half its IPO price. Compounding the bad news was the sale of Facebook 
shares by prominent insiders following the end of a lockup period. There even were rumors that pressure was growing to replace Zuckerberg. True to form, he was nowhere to be seen.
So what’s an embattled CEO to do? Take on the critics? Appear on CNBC? Hit the road for investor meetings? No, no and no.
The shift from private company to public is never easy, and Facebook’s rapid ascent and household-name status have made the transition even harder. For better or worse, being a public company means communicating more.
But Facebook has done a pretty good job thus far when it comes to investor communication. Their first quarterly earnings announcement last month was handled well, even if the results weren’t as strong as investors hoped. Importantly, Zuckerberg offered a roadmap for Facebook’s growth, describing initiatives in mobile, platform development and social ads. The tough part is delivering, of course, and only future quarters will tell us if the strategy is working.
Investors want Zuckerberg to focus on the business with the relentless energy and determination he’s known for. Anything other than that – like wooing disgruntled investors or skeptical analysts – will be viewed very negatively. They’ll come around when Facebook posts stellar results.
So my advice is ignore the stock price and execute the strategy. If you do the latter, the former will take care of itself.