I wonder if it crosses the mind of anyone else that Microsoft is using its billions as weapons. Facebook is a massively successful site. But by investing in a small stake of a company at some huge, overestimate of a valuation, Microsoft is shuttering the valuation of Facebook, and pretty well all of social networking.
It might actually be an advantage to facebook to see the social networking investment market turn sour temporarily, to keep out big VC funded marketing campaigns that you have to do something to compete with.
Besides, typically, if someone is going to give you money at an absurd valuation, unless the terms are particularly onerous, it makes sense to take it.
Is Facebook worried more about competitors or sustainable revenues?
I don't have any friends there, so this is just speculation, but if I had to guess, I'd pick the latter.
You're right about accepting large valuation investments.
By the same token, it's hard to imagine the investor rooting for the company to fail, after having taken a stake (unless, of course, MS really has a Facebook killer waiting in the wings).
Revenues, revenues, REVENUES!! They've created wealth (something people want) but if they can't monetize it, they will fail as a company. Right now people are actively saying they want Facebook instead of its competitors by using it. Their competitors now are the Internet giants - Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Google. Their size and valuation has put them in that category (not a niche startup) so now they need to find a way to earn billions to stay there.
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I wonder if it crosses the mind of anyone else that Microsoft is using its billions as weapons. Facebook is a massively successful site. But by investing in a small stake of a company at some huge, overestimate of a valuation, Microsoft is shuttering the valuation of Facebook, and pretty well all of social networking.
If that were true, then Facebook would have declined letting MS have a stake.
Rather than stunting social networking, it seems MS is just trying to get in the game, since their home-grown efforts to date have been lackluster.
It might actually be an advantage to facebook to see the social networking investment market turn sour temporarily, to keep out big VC funded marketing campaigns that you have to do something to compete with.
Besides, typically, if someone is going to give you money at an absurd valuation, unless the terms are particularly onerous, it makes sense to take it.
Is Facebook worried more about competitors or sustainable revenues?
I don't have any friends there, so this is just speculation, but if I had to guess, I'd pick the latter.
You're right about accepting large valuation investments.
By the same token, it's hard to imagine the investor rooting for the company to fail, after having taken a stake (unless, of course, MS really has a Facebook killer waiting in the wings).
Revenues, revenues, REVENUES!! They've created wealth (something people want) but if they can't monetize it, they will fail as a company. Right now people are actively saying they want Facebook instead of its competitors by using it. Their competitors now are the Internet giants - Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, Google. Their size and valuation has put them in that category (not a niche startup) so now they need to find a way to earn billions to stay there.