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Instagram and YouTube were failed businesses? They sold to big companies in order to scale to billions of users and millions of SMBs because they didn't have kn

Instagram and YouTube were failed businesses? They sold to big companies in order to scale to billions of users and millions of SMBs because they didn't have knowledge nor human and financial resources for such task.

delecti 5y ago
There's no way to know whether they would have failed without being acquired. That isn't the point being made though.
TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
Maybe if they hadn't scaled to, oh, I don't know, THE ENTIRE PLANET, maybe some MORE companies could come in and build successful businesses in the space, and, hey, maybe even figure out how to federate and interoperate. I know, I know. Crazy talk.
- JumpCrisscross 5y ago
  > maybe some MORE companies could come in and build successful businesses in the space This rejects that these businesses required scale to be successful, strengthening the claim that they were not “failed businesses.”
  - thesuitonym 5y ago
    They only need scale if you accept the premise that they need to be the only provider in that space.
hotpotamus 5y ago
I wonder about youtube - I see people say it still loses money though I don't know if that's true, but if it is, then is it a successful business? It's an amazing feat no doubt, but other than that I don't know what to make of it as a business or a force in the world.
- dfadsadsf 5y ago
  Youtube is printing money right now as traffic/computers are cheap which was not the case 10 years ago. It's a very successful (multi $B profit) business right now. They reinvest some profits into original content but it's probably peanuts compared to overall profits.
micromacrofoot 5y ago
They didn't have the knowledge or resources to figure out that they can't indefinitely burn money and needed to sell user data and ads?
klelatti 5y ago
Did Google and FB have to sell to stake to billions of users and millions of SMBs? no!
tsimionescu 5y ago
They were either failed businesses (if they couldn't have survived at all without becoming a worldwide phenomenon) or they were greedy (if they could have survived, but really just wanted it all). Either way, the acquisition of either should never have been allowed.

delecti 5y ago

There's no way to know whether they would have failed without being acquired. That isn't the point being made though.

TheRealDunkirk 5y ago

Maybe if they hadn't scaled to, oh, I don't know, THE ENTIRE PLANET, maybe some MORE companies could come in and build successful businesses in the space, and, hey, maybe even figure out how to federate and interoperate. I know, I know. Crazy talk.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago
> maybe some MORE companies could come in and build successful businesses in the space This rejects that these businesses required scale to be successful, strengthening the claim that they were not “failed businesses.”
- thesuitonym 5y ago
  They only need scale if you accept the premise that they need to be the only provider in that space.

hotpotamus 5y ago

I wonder about youtube - I see people say it still loses money though I don't know if that's true, but if it is, then is it a successful business? It's an amazing feat no doubt, but other than that I don't know what to make of it as a business or a force in the world.

dfadsadsf 5y ago
Youtube is printing money right now as traffic/computers are cheap which was not the case 10 years ago. It's a very successful (multi $B profit) business right now. They reinvest some profits into original content but it's probably peanuts compared to overall profits.

micromacrofoot 5y ago

They didn't have the knowledge or resources to figure out that they can't indefinitely burn money and needed to sell user data and ads?

klelatti 5y ago

Did Google and FB have to sell to stake to billions of users and millions of SMBs? no!

tsimionescu 5y ago

They were either failed businesses (if they couldn't have survived at all without becoming a worldwide phenomenon) or they were greedy (if they could have survived, but really just wanted it all). Either way, the acquisition of either should never have been allowed.