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Does it really matter what WhatsApp made in revenue? The owners got a $16 BILLION payout. Are you suggesting that WhatsApps business model was based on annual

Does it really matter what WhatsApp made in revenue? The owners got a $16 BILLION payout. Are you suggesting that WhatsApps business model was based on annual revenue?

untog 11y ago
> Does it really matter what WhatsApp made in revenue? The owners got a $16 BILLION payout. Silicon Valley mentality at its finest.
- w1ntermute 11y ago
  > I don't want to make a little bit of money every day. I want to make a fuck ton of money all at once. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo&t=15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo&t=15
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  What do you mean? This is just a fact. The company existed to make a return for the owners. The owners exited with $16 billion. That was the motivation of the owners/employees, not $14 million in annual revenue.
  - thomasfoster96 11y ago
    The $14 million is what justifies the $16 billion.
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      I guess that is the argument anyway. FB also recorded it's estimate of the useful lifetime of the WhatsApp users it acquired as a finite intangible asset worth over $2 billion. My point is that the transaction must be analyzed from the viewpoint of the owners (as that is what the poster I was responding to cared about, viz a viz total profit/revenue to Twitter). When you do that, WhatsApp cashed (well, assuming FB stock can be treated as cash) out more per employee than Twitter.
    - meerita 11y ago
      No, it doesn't. I strongly believe there are many other important factors like user base, growth ratio and active users than define the real value.
      - thomasfoster96 11y ago
        Sure, lots of other factors are important, but ultimately factors like user base growth and active users are just showing WhatsApp gaining a larger revenue stream.
    - kelseydh 11y ago
      No, the half billion plus user base, consisting almost entirely of non-Facebook users, is what justified that purchase to Facebook.
      - thomasfoster96 11y ago
        WhatsApp's revenue that they earned from that user base is what was driving the valuation from the perspective of everyone not in Facebook's camp. Facebook woukdnt have been able to buy WhatsApp if WhatsApp thought they could make more money off that username than Facebook.
yid 11y ago
> Are you suggesting that WhatsApps business model was based on annual revenue? Since WhatsApp was a revenue-generation corporation with a board of directors, like any other corporation, before their acquisition, and since I don't like to indulge in conspiracy theories, I'm going to assume that yes -- their business model was based on annual revenue.
- adevine 11y ago
  > I'm going to assume that yes -- their business model was based on annual revenue. Then you'd assume wrong. The goal of the board is to maximize return for investors. In WhatsApp case, it's not hard to see that their goal was to grow as fast as possible, revenue be damned, so they could be a very attractive takeover target for a company like Facebook who could eventually hope to monetize that user base.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

Does it really matter what WhatsApp made in revenue? The owners got a $16 BILLION payout. Are you suggesting that WhatsApps business model was based on annual revenue?

untog 11y ago

> Does it really matter what WhatsApp made in revenue? The owners got a $16 BILLION payout. Silicon Valley mentality at its finest.

w1ntermute 11y ago
> I don't want to make a little bit of money every day. I want to make a fuck ton of money all at once. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo&t=15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo&t=15
jsprogrammer 11y ago
What do you mean? This is just a fact. The company existed to make a return for the owners. The owners exited with $16 billion. That was the motivation of the owners/employees, not $14 million in annual revenue.
- thomasfoster96 11y ago
  The $14 million is what justifies the $16 billion.
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    I guess that is the argument anyway. FB also recorded it's estimate of the useful lifetime of the WhatsApp users it acquired as a finite intangible asset worth over $2 billion. My point is that the transaction must be analyzed from the viewpoint of the owners (as that is what the poster I was responding to cared about, viz a viz total profit/revenue to Twitter). When you do that, WhatsApp cashed (well, assuming FB stock can be treated as cash) out more per employee than Twitter.
  - meerita 11y ago
    No, it doesn't. I strongly believe there are many other important factors like user base, growth ratio and active users than define the real value.
    - thomasfoster96 11y ago
      Sure, lots of other factors are important, but ultimately factors like user base growth and active users are just showing WhatsApp gaining a larger revenue stream.
  - kelseydh 11y ago
    No, the half billion plus user base, consisting almost entirely of non-Facebook users, is what justified that purchase to Facebook.
    - thomasfoster96 11y ago
      WhatsApp's revenue that they earned from that user base is what was driving the valuation from the perspective of everyone not in Facebook's camp. Facebook woukdnt have been able to buy WhatsApp if WhatsApp thought they could make more money off that username than Facebook.

yid 11y ago

> Are you suggesting that WhatsApps business model was based on annual revenue? Since WhatsApp was a revenue-generation corporation with a board of directors, like any other corporation, before their acquisition, and since I don't like to indulge in conspiracy theories, I'm going to assume that yes -- their business model was based on annual revenue.

adevine 11y ago
> I'm going to assume that yes -- their business model was based on annual revenue. Then you'd assume wrong. The goal of the board is to maximize return for investors. In WhatsApp case, it's not hard to see that their goal was to grow as fast as possible, revenue be damned, so they could be a very attractive takeover target for a company like Facebook who could eventually hope to monetize that user base.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]