But they value entrepreneurship and see success stories like Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker and a host of other young innovators as proof that they can make a difference and make money doing it.

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For the next six months Parker met with music industry executives and made a key introduction to Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

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"This would be a celebration and permanent legacy not only of our association with the FA, but would also mark 400 years since the city acquired Parker's Piece from the university in a land-swap deal, " he said.

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In the summer of 2004, Hoffman, who had recently founded LinkedIn, and Sean Parker, the Silicon Valley enfant terrible, introduced Thiel to Mark Zuckerberg, who was looking for a major investor in Facebook, then a site for college students.

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