Facebook's Little Red Book

In 2012, Facebook was facing a challenge as it hit a billion users: rapid scaling was outpacing their ability to maintain focus on the big picture. Narratives became fragmented, and with them, the essence of what tied the company to Zuckerberg's vision began to fade.

They made a bold move by codifying their story into a Little Red Book. Which they distributed internally.

Created by designer Ben Barry, the book distilled Facebook’s ethos—breaking things, thinking big, and moving fast—into a manifesto. More than a handbook, it was a declaration of identity, solving the problem of scaling culture during explosive growth. It reminded employees: This is who we are. This is why we exist.

Few copies remain today, and most of the digital versions floating around the internet are low resolution.

After years of sporadically checking eBay, I found a copy. It arrived at our office a few weeks ago.

Determined to create a better digital version, I reached out to a few public libraries and universities in NYC. One gave me access to their $150,000 DT-BC100 scanner.

This isn’t just a scan of a book; it’s a testament to the power of storytelling.

Stories build belief. They turn strangers into teammates, teams into movements, and movements into businesses that can change the world.

So here it is, the highest quality publicly available version of the Little Red Book, preserved for anyone curious about how great companies scale culture and ideas.