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The billion dollar instagram acquisition is becoming the insane-valuation-punchline du jour and will eventually supersede all previous punchlines from the first

by rsync 13y ago

The billion dollar instagram acquisition is becoming the insane-valuation-punchline du jour and will eventually supersede all previous punchlines from the first bubble.

tptacek 13y ago
Has Instagram's usage plummeted or does it remain one of the most popular photo-sharing social networks in the world? Does photo-sharing remain one of the most popular activities on Facebook? Is it become less apparent, instead of more apparent, that a Facebook competitor could have leveraged Instagram as a threat?
- pdog 13y ago
  I know you're asking these questions rhetorically, but for those who don't know, Instagram usage exploded after the acquisition and the consensus in the Valley is that it sold to Facebook for incredibly cheap.
  - bibinou 13y ago
    Well, they launched on Android right before being acquired too.
threeseed 13y ago
You couldn't be more wrong IMHO. Instagram is actually looking to be quite a smart acquisition. Not only is it fending off Vine with its video integration but look what is happening in Kuwait. Businesses there are using to sell comics, sheep, makeup - anything which is photo dominated. Plenty of opportunities there to monetise without affecting your everyday user. And as smartphone cameras become more sophisticated like we are seeing from Nokia and Sony it is likely that Instagram will takeover from Flickr as the primary photo service of the internet as well.
johnrob 13y ago
The instagram number was just a numerator on top of facebook's valuation. To say instagram was overpriced is just an indirect way of saying facebook was overpriced.
smackfu 13y ago
Compared to OMGPOP, which was a one hit wonder bought for $200 million and shut down after a year?
- freyr 13y ago
  Of course that's a worse acquisition, but it doesn't have the flashy $1B price tag, and did anybody really expect better from Zinga? Instagram had strategic timing for its IPO, and nipped a potential competitor in the bud. Facebook probably was worried (and rightfully, IMO) that it has lost its cool factor among young people, and that there was a vacuum of influence in the mobile space. Instagram was spreading insanely fast among young people, was natively mobile, and was centered around Facebook's most popular functionality (sharing photos with friends). Had Instagram incorporated more of the essential social networking features, it conceivably could have become the social networking site to dethrone Facebook. Squashing that threat when they did was very, very smart.
rdl 13y ago
No way. Broadcast.com for $4.5b? AOL/Netscape (which actually destroyed the company, in addition to being a lot of money?) Pets.com (due to the puppet). Etc. nothing going on today could hold a candle to the 1998-2001 bubble.
- prostoalex 13y ago
  Don't forget HP buying Compaq. $25 billion well spent.

by rsync 13y ago

The billion dollar instagram acquisition is becoming the insane-valuation-punchline du jour and will eventually supersede all previous punchlines from the first bubble.

tptacek 13y ago

Has Instagram's usage plummeted or does it remain one of the most popular photo-sharing social networks in the world? Does photo-sharing remain one of the most popular activities on Facebook? Is it become less apparent, instead of more apparent, that a Facebook competitor could have leveraged Instagram as a threat?

pdog 13y ago
I know you're asking these questions rhetorically, but for those who don't know, Instagram usage exploded after the acquisition and the consensus in the Valley is that it sold to Facebook for incredibly cheap.
- bibinou 13y ago
  Well, they launched on Android right before being acquired too.

threeseed 13y ago

You couldn't be more wrong IMHO. Instagram is actually looking to be quite a smart acquisition. Not only is it fending off Vine with its video integration but look what is happening in Kuwait. Businesses there are using to sell comics, sheep, makeup - anything which is photo dominated. Plenty of opportunities there to monetise without affecting your everyday user. And as smartphone cameras become more sophisticated like we are seeing from Nokia and Sony it is likely that Instagram will takeover from Flickr as the primary photo service of the internet as well.

johnrob 13y ago

The instagram number was just a numerator on top of facebook's valuation. To say instagram was overpriced is just an indirect way of saying facebook was overpriced.

smackfu 13y ago

Compared to OMGPOP, which was a one hit wonder bought for $200 million and shut down after a year?

freyr 13y ago
Of course that's a worse acquisition, but it doesn't have the flashy $1B price tag, and did anybody really expect better from Zinga? Instagram had strategic timing for its IPO, and nipped a potential competitor in the bud. Facebook probably was worried (and rightfully, IMO) that it has lost its cool factor among young people, and that there was a vacuum of influence in the mobile space. Instagram was spreading insanely fast among young people, was natively mobile, and was centered around Facebook's most popular functionality (sharing photos with friends). Had Instagram incorporated more of the essential social networking features, it conceivably could have become the social networking site to dethrone Facebook. Squashing that threat when they did was very, very smart.

rdl 13y ago

No way. Broadcast.com for $4.5b? AOL/Netscape (which actually destroyed the company, in addition to being a lot of money?) Pets.com (due to the puppet). Etc. nothing going on today could hold a candle to the 1998-2001 bubble.

prostoalex 13y ago
Don't forget HP buying Compaq. $25 billion well spent.