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Of course it matters, and the only person it matters to is Zuckerberg. I don't understand why anyone should tell an entrepreneur when they should sell and where
by rewind 16y ago
Of course it matters, and the only person it matters to is Zuckerberg. I don't understand why anyone should tell an entrepreneur when they should sell and where the threshold is. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any huge, super-successful companies that sold early and became huge after the fact. I'm sure there are, but I can only think of the Googles, Microsofts, IBMs, Apples, etc. I'm sure there are examples, but when I think of super-huge companies, the founders didn't sell out early.
- gnaritas 16y agoWe're not talking about super huge successful companies, we're talking about the rational thing for a first time entrepreneur to do, and that's take the billion dollars and run. Zuck followed his heart, not his head. That's perfectly fine to do, but he played against the odds. While it worked out, it's akin to winning the lottery. No one's telling Zuck what to do, so I don't know what it is you don't understand. We're just analyzing the logic of what he did after the fact. You're too hung up on the winners like Google, Microsoft, and Apple, but you're forgetting about the thousands and thousands of never-weres who were sunk because of exactly this kind of rash decision making against the odds. What Zuck did was not good business, it was luck; that attitude is not something to emulate. Had any of his competitors delivered Facebook could have easily gone down in flames and they'd all have been wishing they took the billion. Ask yourself this, would it be wise for the typical startup founder in his early 20's on his first startup to turn down a billion dollar acquisition? I submit the answer is a most definite no. If you disagree, please do explain your rationale.