3 ms·

I agree with the sentiment that the article reads as if "This is Yahoo's fault" - not to say they didn't play a role as the parent company. Bottom line here is

I agree with the sentiment that the article reads as if "This is Yahoo's fault" - not to say they didn't play a role as the parent company. Bottom line here is that Tumblr (with or without Yahoo) failed to monetize their platform. This line stuck out to me as very true reflection of what the Valley sometimes looks like: > Tumblr’s stumbles under Yahoo may go down as a cautionary tale, both for the perils of a large corporation buying a hot startup and for Silicon Valley’s belief that any social network reaching hundreds of millions of people will inevitably generate boatloads of cash one day. There was talk of "We'll make it an advertising platform" but did anyone really ask the Tumblr team "How" ? (I'd love to hear info from any insiders on HN) Makes me wonder how many times a day the execs at Facebook wonder how they can ever monetize expensive companies like Whatsapp.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
I suspect purchases such as whatsapp to Facebook were less about opening up new revenue streams, and more about locking in potential competitors. Not everybody uses their Facebook account but they may be more prolific on Instagram. They might not like being constantly monitored by Facebook Messenger but even with WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption, Facebook is still provided with valuable metadata, and the more diverse data sources, the more metadata resembles regular, easily interpretable data. It's like Microsoft buying LinkedIn: the market was clearly bearish on the company, but a tech Titan like Microsoft has a lot to gain by keeping its finger on the pulse of potential hires around the world - with a crucial head-start before headhunters can find star performers.
elliottcarlson 10y ago
The advertising platform was in development prior to the acquisition, and in my humble opinion, the plan that was in place was not bad at all, and certainly had users best interests in mind as well. I moved off of the ads team when initial integration started with Yahoo, so I don't have as much insight in to this.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago

I suspect purchases such as whatsapp to Facebook were less about opening up new revenue streams, and more about locking in potential competitors. Not everybody uses their Facebook account but they may be more prolific on Instagram. They might not like being constantly monitored by Facebook Messenger but even with WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption, Facebook is still provided with valuable metadata, and the more diverse data sources, the more metadata resembles regular, easily interpretable data. It's like Microsoft buying LinkedIn: the market was clearly bearish on the company, but a tech Titan like Microsoft has a lot to gain by keeping its finger on the pulse of potential hires around the world - with a crucial head-start before headhunters can find star performers.

elliottcarlson 10y ago

The advertising platform was in development prior to the acquisition, and in my humble opinion, the plan that was in place was not bad at all, and certainly had users best interests in mind as well. I moved off of the ads team when initial integration started with Yahoo, so I don't have as much insight in to this.