3 ms·

Facebook was monetizing just fine. They had simple ads that were generating millions in revenue and profit. The problem is that they are trying to hyper-moneti

by tansey 16y ago

Facebook was monetizing just fine. They had simple ads that were generating millions in revenue and profit. The problem is that they are trying to hyper-monetize. Zuckerberg turned down a $2BN offer from Yahoo, so clearly he believed he could make the company worth more than that.

jacquesm 16y ago
On that scale the money they were making was relatively little compared to other sites (for instance google, yahoo) with the same number of pageviews / uniques. Zuckerberg is actually proving that they're worth more, the way in which he goes about it is not the most elegant though. I'm still willing to bet he'll succeed but the image of facebook is tarnished for ever, and it could very well be that if he does manage to sell for a much higher valuation that the buyer will find themselves with another broadcast.com.
- DrSprout 16y ago
  Back when that deal was being floated, it was pretty obvious that most of the potential buyers would probably cause users to leave in droves. Especially since the most likely buyer was looking like Microsoft. Facebook is very dependent on being a single entity. If it sells, it has to sell to a company larger than itself, and that's about the only thing scarier from a user standpoint than what Facebook has already done.
anamax 16y ago
> Zuckerberg turned down a $2BN offer from Yahoo, so clearly he believed he could make the company worth more than that. I thought that Yahoo offered $1B and Microsoft (later) offered several (15?) billion. Note that Zuckerberg may have interests other than money. For example, he may be happier running a company worth $3B than having $5B.
- tansey 16y ago
  Fair enough, I believe it was only a rumored $2BN offer from Yahoo.
- mbreese 16y ago
  If I'm remembering correctly, the Microsoft "offer" was an investment that valued the company at $15B, not a complete offer.
- ctkrohn 16y ago
  Microsoft didn't offer 15bn... they invested a couple hundred million (~250mm, if I recall) to buy a certain percent of the company. That led to a 15bn valuation.
  - hugh3 16y ago
    They also got something else (an exclusive contract of some kind, I can't remember exactly) for that $250 million, so the $15B valuation was always phony.
  - anamax 16y ago
    From http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/technology/facebook_excerpt_full.fortune/ http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/technology/facebook_excerpt_... But Ballmer had come with something more sweeping in mind. "Why don't we just buy you for $15 billion?" he replied, according to a very knowledgeable source. Zuckerberg was unmoved even by this offer. "I don't want to sell the company unless I can keep control," said Zuckerberg, as he always did in such situations. Ballmer took this reply as a sort of challenge. He went back to Microsoft's headquarters and concocted a plan intended to acquire Facebook in stages over a period of years to enable Zuckerberg to keep calling the shots. Zuckerberg also rejected that offer. The deal that was struck was for $250M at a $15B valuation

by tansey 16y ago

jacquesm 16y ago

On that scale the money they were making was relatively little compared to other sites (for instance google, yahoo) with the same number of pageviews / uniques. Zuckerberg is actually proving that they're worth more, the way in which he goes about it is not the most elegant though. I'm still willing to bet he'll succeed but the image of facebook is tarnished for ever, and it could very well be that if he does manage to sell for a much higher valuation that the buyer will find themselves with another broadcast.com.

DrSprout 16y ago
Back when that deal was being floated, it was pretty obvious that most of the potential buyers would probably cause users to leave in droves. Especially since the most likely buyer was looking like Microsoft. Facebook is very dependent on being a single entity. If it sells, it has to sell to a company larger than itself, and that's about the only thing scarier from a user standpoint than what Facebook has already done.

anamax 16y ago

> Zuckerberg turned down a $2BN offer from Yahoo, so clearly he believed he could make the company worth more than that. I thought that Yahoo offered $1B and Microsoft (later) offered several (15?) billion. Note that Zuckerberg may have interests other than money. For example, he may be happier running a company worth $3B than having $5B.

tansey 16y ago
Fair enough, I believe it was only a rumored $2BN offer from Yahoo.
mbreese 16y ago
If I'm remembering correctly, the Microsoft "offer" was an investment that valued the company at $15B, not a complete offer.
ctkrohn 16y ago
Microsoft didn't offer 15bn... they invested a couple hundred million (~250mm, if I recall) to buy a certain percent of the company. That led to a 15bn valuation.
- hugh3 16y ago
  They also got something else (an exclusive contract of some kind, I can't remember exactly) for that $250 million, so the $15B valuation was always phony.
- anamax 16y ago
  From http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/technology/facebook_excerpt_full.fortune/ http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/technology/facebook_excerpt_... But Ballmer had come with something more sweeping in mind. "Why don't we just buy you for $15 billion?" he replied, according to a very knowledgeable source. Zuckerberg was unmoved even by this offer. "I don't want to sell the company unless I can keep control," said Zuckerberg, as he always did in such situations. Ballmer took this reply as a sort of challenge. He went back to Microsoft's headquarters and concocted a plan intended to acquire Facebook in stages over a period of years to enable Zuckerberg to keep calling the shots. Zuckerberg also rejected that offer. The deal that was struck was for $250M at a $15B valuation