( CNN ) -- After an astounding debut on Friday , Facebook 's shares have tumbled for the most part . Is the most highly anticipated technology IPO in recent years a failure ? It 's too early to know . As we probe every aspect of Facebook 's initial public offering , we should remember that the long-term performance of a company or its stock bears virtually no correlation with its first week 's or month 's market performance . In fact , the early days of Amazon.com 's stock chart looked similar to Facebook 's . Amazon 's stock has done just fine since then . Facebook has smartly capitalized on new market forces on a scale never seen in the history of commerce . But the jury 's still out -- and will be out for a while -- on whether Facebook is a `` phenom '' or a real , growing company . Facebook and its bankers did their jobs superbly well . They extracted the maximum amount of money possible from Wall Street and Main Street investors , raising $ 16 billion at eye-popping valuations and making it one of the largest IPOs ever . Some observers wondered , `` what 's it worth ? '' while others yammered about the market-cap-per customer calculus , knowing full well that no one really knows what that number is today or in a few years . With all the hoopla surrounding Facebook 's IPO , is it surprising that something went wrong ? Facebook 's IPO process is now being scrutinized closely , with regulators looking into impropriety on the part of the banks . There were `` leaked '' upbeat memos about the company . There were last-minute reductions in revenue forecasts while the bankers were pumping the price higher and higher . Some investors may have had more information than others . There were even technical glitches with NASDAQ 's systems that disrupted trading . More `` innocent '' mistakes than a toddler makes in years . Maybe the IPO was mishandled . If we had a more functional Securities and Exchange Commission , perhaps it would have made Facebook redo its IPO filing documents , which would have given some investors pause , and might have forced further tuning of a variety of key accounting metrics , all in full public view . Moving forward , Facebook needs to do one thing right : Mature into a great company that constantly innovates based not on just Mark Zuckerberg 's vision alone , but with lots of help , feedback and direction from its nearly 1 billion users . Ask Rupert Murdoch and MySpace about the importance of staying exciting , compelling and relevant to customers . Or Yahoo , or dozens of other companies that were so focused on their quarterly numbers and stock prices that they lost focus of their users and watched them drift away . Was a $ 38 FB share a great deal ? Do n't ask me this week -- ask me a year or two from now . The Facebook IPO is remarkable for another reason , though : It could change the investing culture of Silicon Valley forever . Startups can now think about a `` total available market '' in the billions of users ( smart phones , tablets , PCs , etc . ) and try to reach a customer base that was unimaginable even decades ago . And as more people use their devices/apps 24/7 -- possibly in some sort of social way -- the potential revenue that can be generated would be enormous . For that reason , investor money is suddenly racing toward social media . Years ago , a great venture capitalist could make a solid return on an investment in about a decade or less . Now , a simple photo-sharing app like Instagram can be valued at $ 1 billion in less than three years . But what 's great for making tons of money may not be the same as what 's great for innovation or for our country . In Silicon Valley , the investor flight to social media marks the beginning of the end of the era of venture capital-backed big ideas in science and technology . Social media is the pot of gold that everyone wants a piece of right now . Will it change the way people interact ? Stay tuned . Will it make the world a better place ? Hard to say . In the meantime , there is n't a whole lot to be learned in Facebook 's first week or month of trading . We 'll just have to see if this social media giant grows into a solid and profitable company over time . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Blank .
On Tuesday , Facebook 's stock has plunged nearly 18 % from its IPO price . Steve Blank : It 's too early to judge Facebook based on its initial performance on the market . Despite its IPO process mess , Facebook just needs to prove its long-term worth , he says . Blank : Facebook IPO could change the investing culture of Silicon Valley forever .