Some of the biggest moves in the business world fly under the radar but can still have a massive impact on organizations and society at large. While such celebrity CEOs as Elon Musk make international headlines, Deb Liu never graced the front page for launching Facebook Marketplace.

Regardless, her efforts changed the way many people buy and sell. Interestingly, Liu first pitched integrating commerce into Facebook during a job interview in 2009. Liu landed a role at Facebook, but the commerce idea initially failed to gain much traction.

Nevertheless, she persisted, and the project slowly snowballed. Meanwhile, Liu helped set up the company’s Credits program, which people can use to play video games. She also worked on Facebook Platform, which enables developers to use Facebook data to build applications and services. 

Ultimately, Liu approached her time at Facebook with the mindset of an entrepreneur. She continued to pursue her vision for integrating commerce and Facebook Marketplace launched in 2016. The rest is history. Facebook Marketplace drummed up $26 billion in revenue in 2021 and Meta says that a billion shoppers a month use the platform. These days, folks use Facebook Marketplace to run virtual garage sales or even to remove vehicles from their garage.