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I can't imagine PG directing that essay either toward a business the size of facebook now nor toward someone with the intent of telling them to get to facebook'

by iigs 18y ago

I can't imagine PG directing that essay either toward a business the size of facebook now nor toward someone with the intent of telling them to get to facebook's size before having profit (let alone revenue) figured out. It's one thing to have an application and not have the price points figured out. It's an entirely different thing to not have any idea at all how you'd substantially monetize your customer base. In fact you might not even consider it a customer base but just consider it an expense base. Of course I've nothing against charities. I think I might have a problem with it if I invested with the expectation of a direct ROI. The parent to my comment seems to contend (evidently? am I being trolled?) that it's ok to be five years into a business without not only not having a notion of how you might profit, but not even having a clear source for a plausibly profitable source of revenue. On second thought spending money without the notion of a return is not even a charity, it's consumption.

alaskamiller 18y ago
I'm not going to be putting words into pg's mouth but if he's not going to be ecstatic that a YC company can grow into Facebook's size in just 5 years then I don't know what could possibly excite him. He has, however, mentioned that he doesn't like the fact that companies take buyout offers within a year or two of starting up because that decision to sell prohibits them might limit them from being big, great, companies. Big companies that can walk into a room and just push people around because of their sheer size. Companies that can introduce and try out both traditional and non-traditional advertising methods, companies that can sign lucrative exclusivity contracts, companies that can get 250 million in the bank at insane valuations, companies that can establish connective tools with other major websites. Considering their competitive advantage and global reach of Facebook, I'm more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. PS. People that disagree are trolls. Classy.

by iigs 18y ago

alaskamiller 18y ago

I'm not going to be putting words into pg's mouth but if he's not going to be ecstatic that a YC company can grow into Facebook's size in just 5 years then I don't know what could possibly excite him. He has, however, mentioned that he doesn't like the fact that companies take buyout offers within a year or two of starting up because that decision to sell prohibits them might limit them from being big, great, companies. Big companies that can walk into a room and just push people around because of their sheer size. Companies that can introduce and try out both traditional and non-traditional advertising methods, companies that can sign lucrative exclusivity contracts, companies that can get 250 million in the bank at insane valuations, companies that can establish connective tools with other major websites. Considering their competitive advantage and global reach of Facebook, I'm more willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being. PS. People that disagree are trolls. Classy.