[pastarocket]

Mark Zuckerberg made this announcement today about Facebook buying Instagram. The acquisition price is $1 billion US:

I'm excited to share the news that we've agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook.

For years, we've focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we'll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram's strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That's why we're committed to building and growing Instagram independently. Millions of people around the world love the Instagram app and the brand associated with it, and our goal is to help spread this app and brand to even more people.

We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience. We plan on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.

These and many other features are important parts of the Instagram experience and we understand that. We will try to learn from Instagram's experience to build similar features into our other products. At the same time, we will try to help Instagram continue to grow by using Facebook's strong engineering team and infrastructure.

This is an important milestone for Facebook because it's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together.

We're looking forward to working with the Instagram team and to all of the great new experiences we're going to be able to build together.

News article:

Breaking: Facebook to Acquire Instagram for $1 Billion - Kara Swisher - News - AllThingsD (http://allthingsd.com/20120409/breaking-facebook-to-acquire-instagram-for-1-billion/?mod=googlenews)

[dicecube]

facebook will put up a ton of ads on instagram

[twitchyzero]

is there a reason why instagram is so popular? Is the photo editing options just that much better than other mobile photography apps?

[Drow]

Yah... I never got the hype of instagram. I can see girls using it, but when i see guys using it seems kinda weird to me

[Meowjin]

instagram timeline.

essentially photo twitter.

[Supafly]

I dont think this is breaking news.....honestly, who really gives a shit about facebook other than creeping the pics of Jailbait "friends"??...lol

[Liquid_o2]

The valuation of all these companies is out of whack. A billion dollars for a photo sharing program??

[GLOW]

i don't even know wtf instagram is :lawl:

[jackmeister]

tech bubble 2 coming right up.

[BillyBishop]

The valuation of all these companies is out of whack. A billion dollars for a photo sharing program??

If I recall, Instagram has something like 27 million users. Facebook generates revenue through traffic; with some sort of a deeper integration than what currently exists, I'd think that a lot of money could be made

[b0unce. [?]]

just because you take a picture in black and white, doesn't make it good.

[Manic!]

Way overpriced imo. For a billion why couldn't Facebook just make it's own app and market the crap out of it on Facebook.

[dasani604]

instagram timeline.

essentially photo twitter.

You got that right. It's as annoying as Twitter. I don't understand the appeal of it since the pictures look like shit anyway, but I suppose that's why I don't understand the point of Twitter. It bothers me that people need to use Instagram/Twitter in a way that requires them to post about their life on a daily basis but I guess attention whores will be attention whores

[StylinRed]

OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG


THIS IS A WORLD CHANGING EVENT!!!!!!!


BREAKING FUCKING NEWS INDEED!!



:P


Sepia Cats for All! http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1233/allmeme.png

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/180/452708404_8da4505213_z.jpg



i've got no idea why this app is so popular it just makes me think the photo editing/sharing software in the iphone must stink

[Alby]

this just means facebook failed in the aspect of sharing photos with family and friends. instead of improving, they buyout whatever makes them get more traffic

[sonick]

is there a reason why instagram is so popular? Is the photo editing options just that much better than other mobile photography apps?

I don't understand the appeal of it since the pictures look like shit anyway

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/18167206.jpg

[Tim Budong]

large company eats up small startups that are popular
no problem with this
hipsters boycotting mainstream...thats...the hipster thing
i see nothing wrong with this picture

people comparing this purchase vs Google's purchase of youtube. fucking stupid.

[shawnly1000]

tech bubble 2 coming right up.

Started a while ago with IPOs for Groupon, LinkedIn, Yelp, Angie's list, etc

[1exotic]

what is an Instagram

[sonick]

what is an Instagram

An app that makes your photos look like they were taken with an old, shitty, low-quality camera.

[spideyv2]

prepped for more LG bathroom pics

[dangonay]

Way overpriced imo. For a billion why couldn't Facebook just make it's own app and market the crap out of it on Facebook.How many times has Google or other companies tried to make their own versions of an existing app or service only to fail miserably?

Sometimes it just makes more sense to buy something established and take their user base with you.


Anyone feel like they're in the wrong business? Forget developing new technology - just come up with the next social fad and you too can become a billionare.

[MR_BIGGS]

tech bubble 2 coming right up.

Started a while ago with IPOs for Groupon, LinkedIn, Yelp, Angie's list, etc

Help wanted: tech firms scramble for talent - The Globe and Mail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/help-wanted-tech-firms-scramble-for-talent/article2395687/)

Down the street from Research In Motion Ltd., (RIM-T12.980.362.85%) where a new CEO is firing senior managers at a firm whose growth has stalled, hundreds of smaller technology firms are having the exact opposite problem: Growing too fast, they can’t find enough people to hire.

In the Kitchener-Waterloo area, deep within the technology ecosystem that blossomed as RIM grew into a global giant, companies are struggling to fill roles even as their growth helps anchor the region's reputation as an expanding high-tech hub. Some are large firms experiencing the dramatic growth that accompanies global expansion; others are small outfits that require extremely specific expertise. What they have in common is that they operate in exploding industries, like mobile applications, that barely existed a few years ago.
More related to this story

As a result, local technology firms and community groups are teaming up to build a regional hub that would benefit every company here by pulling in more people. But companies, individually, are also getting extremely creative with their workplace and hiring practices - building gyms, catering two daily meals, offering unlimited vacation and huge cash incentives - in ways that could hold lessons for others hiring in tight talent markets.

At Kik, a startup with sealed-off software programming "war-rooms," big-screen TVs controlled by iPhones and oversized post-it notes stuck to the wall, Erika Podlovics is trying desperately to calm her five-month-old puppy, Wellington.

Wellington the puppy has accompanied Ms. Podlovics to work. As the 24-year-old CEO, Ted Livingston, looks on, Ms. Podlovics lets the dog, which has been ill lately, out of a cage and hands him a stuffed toy snake.

Bringing a recovering pet to work is just one of the perks of working here. One of the other perks for employees is having two free meals each work day, catered by the upscale bar Wildcraft, which is just across the street. Kik is also putting in a gym, even though it only has 25 employees,

"If you want to compete at the global level, you're going to have to spend the money to build that culture," Mr. Livingston says.

Last year, nearly 300 new companies formed in the region, creating roughly 450 jobs at various startups, according to Communitech, a local group that represents about 800 technology companies in the region. There have also been about 1,000 tech jobs created at medium-to-large tech firms over the last three years, a period that has seen 531 new companies established here. But those companies are now growing, fast, and a "conservative estimate" is that there are roughly 1,300 unfilled tech positions locally, says Communitech's CEO, Iain Klugman. Even RIM, which laid off 11 per cent of its work force, is still hiring.

Mr. Klugman's group has been hitting the road, reaching out to about 20,000 local high school students and encouraging them to study science and engineering. They have also done recruitment events across the country with local companies, as well as on-campus events.

Desire2Learn, a fast-growing e-learning company here that has offices around the world, is giving out around $75,000 in prize money to programmers who develop applications for its platform. John Baker, the firm's president and CEO, also recently gave 140 of his R&D staff an entire week off to work on whatever they wanted to - and then integrated some of what they came up with into the product lineup. In addition to the more-traditional cash prizes and paying people $500 a year not to drive to work, they also have chili cook-offs. Currently, there are about 90 job openings and the company expects to hire 250 people this year.

Lately, Mr. Baker has leveraged the company's mission with potential employees, pulling in those from Google and elsewhere because he says Desire2Learn wasn't simply trying to profit from technology, but had broader aspirational goals for changing society. "We've been able to attract some great talent, like [former RIM chief financial officer] Dennis Kavelman," Mr. Baker says.

At times, it makes more sense to pull in high-quality employees who may not even have the right skills for the job: Ramy Nassar, a former RIM executive who has done hiring for Toronto-based Myplanet Digital, says they have run four-week courses for new employees that cost the company about $1,000 a day. "We'll match any offer from Google or Facebook," Mr. Nassar says.

For a local company but global giant like RIM, the problems are a bit different. Many local programmers say they don't want to work there because of RIM's stuffy work culture, but some go as far as attributing a talent shortage to RIM's aging buildings - bought during big expansions, but largely seen as bland and uninspiring.

For slightly smaller firms in larger cities, like Toronto's Endloop Mobile, the fight for fresh talent can still be immensely frustrating, a sign that the problem is not Waterloo's alone. Kerry Morrison, Endloop's CEO, now stresses their company's "anti-corporation" stance by working out of a house-office, offering unlimited vacation time, stacking the house with breakfast and dinner food, and getting set to offer in-house yoga classes and comprehensive medical coverage - despite the fact that the firm has only six full-time employees. Like others, they are investigating global satellite offices to draw from wider talent pools.

"Finding talent is the No. 1 issue we at Endloop, and every other company I talk to, is facing in 2012 - it's ridiculous right now how hard it is to find people," Mr. Morrison says, who notes he would hire three or four developers tomorrow if he could find any. "Frankly it's the only thing that keeps me up at night."

[Psykopathik]

this will totally change my life and the internet as we know it. Thank you for the news.

[The_AK]

Way overpriced imo. For a billion why couldn't Facebook just make it's own app and market the crap out of it on Facebook.

Brand Equity.

[Tim Budong]

Way overpriced imo. For a billion why couldn't Facebook just make it's own app and market the crap out of it on Facebook.

Its not just the app. its the user data base and all the photos uploaded to instagram that push the value up

Facebook now has another source to secure data.

Facebook OWNS all the pictures you upload, its why I DONT share my actual photography stuff on FB.

[insomniac]

i've got no idea why this app is so popular it just makes me think the photo editing/sharing software in the iphone must stink

you have no idea because maybe because you havent used it....? the app is worth so much because of how many users it has and traffic=money so imagine how much money it will make when its eventually integrated to facebook.

actually you got it the other way around. the app is so popular cause the editing/sharing software on instagram is bomb.com

theres various filters and instead of just a tint like sepia b&w etc on typical apps. theres also tones and shades integrated into the filters but you dont need to adjust the tones and shades yourself.

but the app is popular not only because of that but you can follow your friends and comment/like etc WITHIN the app. not only that but you have a choice of uploading it right away to twitter/tumblr/facebook etc. is there any app on nokia that allows you to do that?

like another rs member mentioned its like twitter with pictures. pretty cool seeing what my other friends are doing. its not just an app for people to cam whore with. i have over a hundred friends i know that uses the app daily and its a great way to keep in touch.

i dont get whats with all the hate, its not just about lg's taking pictures of themselves unless thats what your retarded circle of friends only know how to use a camera for.

[mmmk]

instagram timeline.

essentially photo twitter.

this is exactly what it is....photo twitter, all the chicks i know use it lol

[Noir]

you have no idea because maybe because you havent used it....? the app is worth so much because of how many users it has and traffic=money so imagine how much money it will make when its eventually integrated to facebook.

actually you got it the other way around. the app is so popular cause the editing/sharing software on instagram is bomb.com

theres various filters and instead of just a tint like sepia b&w etc on typical apps. theres also tones and shades integrated into the filters but you dont need to adjust the tones and shades yourself.

but the app is popular not only because of that but you can follow your friends and comment/like etc WITHIN the app. not only that but you have a choice of uploading it right away to twitter/tumblr/facebook etc. is there any app on nokia that allows you to do that?

like another rs member mentioned its like twitter with pictures. pretty cool seeing what my other friends are doing. its not just an app for people to cam whore with. i have over a hundred friends i know that uses the app daily and its a great way to keep in touch.

i dont get whats with all the hate, its not just about lg's taking pictures of themselves unless thats what your retarded circle of friends only know how to use a camera for.

no. let's not kid ourselves at what it really is.

Instagram is: Mobile phone photo + Instagram Filter = ZOMG!!! I'm a photographer.

[kunoman1]

Expansion of brand portfolio..valuable but maybe not 1 billion dollar valuable...

super popular iphone app. Free. Buying said iphone app. 1 billion dollars. Millions more LG pics. Priceless

[mmmk]

no. let's not kid ourselves at what it really is.

Instagram is: Mobile phone photo + Instagram Filter = ZOMG!!! I'm a photographer.

Dude, you being a photographer has nothing to do with it. You have no idea what it is.

Instagram is: an app anyone can use to instantly share photos with others across the world.

[BaoTurbo]

Basically its popular for its convenient functions and compatibility with other social media applications.

Summed it all up in one sentence.

[Gh0stRider]

porn stars use it...giggity

so ive heard.....:p

[Noir]

Dude, you being a photographer has nothing to do with it. You have no idea what it is.

Instagram is: an app anyone can use to instantly share photos with others across the world.

No, I have a perfect idea of what it is.

Anyone can share photos across the world. It's not the newest thing on the internet. There's seriously thousands of platforms available. Why is this platform more prominent than others?

Well, lets just say anyone can spot an instagram photo over any other photos in general a mile away. Like I said earlier, let's not kid ourselves about what it's really about. Nowadays, anyone can slap on a filter and call themselves artistic.

[unit]

apple has 100B in the bank, they can afford to take some risks.

[dangonay]

No, I have a perfect idea of what it is.

Anyone can share photos across the world. It's not the newest thing on the internet. There's seriously thousands of platforms available. Why is this platform more prominent than others?
This is why you don't get it. Millions of people use it because of the combination of features and how it works. As with lots of successful products it only takes a slight difference to make one take off while the other disappears into obscurity.

I don't use Instagram but I can understand why it's successful. And I consider myself an avid amateur photographer and have dumped untold $1,000's into gear and lenses over the last 25 years. It's not the quality of the photos - its the social experience people like. Trying to analyze it from a photographers POV is pointless.

[threezero]

I use instagram and no I don't have a single picture of myself in it. I find it is alot easier to get feedback on your picts on instagram than say professional photo sharing site ie Flickr. I enjoy the interactive ness from both frds and random ppl.

It's the perfect place to snoop on celebrities and for my I mainly use to follow tattoo artist, instagram is quite a hit amoungst the art crowd.

Kid you not the only reason why I'm still on iPhone is Becuz of instagram, I hope this means that fb will dump some money into making an android version

[b0unce. [?]]

sorry, every hipster - anyone can use instagram to take a picture of a park bench and call themselves a "photographer". it's just a retarded trend that caught on.

yes, it's cool to upload to social media networks and shit, but what the app is made to do, sucks. no one cares if you changed the shading/filters to make the photo look "vintage".

[Manic!]

I use instagram and no I don't have a single picture of myself in it. I find it is alot easier to get feedback on your picts on instagram than say professional photo sharing site ie Flickr. I enjoy the interactive ness from both frds and random ppl.

It's the perfect place to snoop on celebrities and for my I mainly use to follow tattoo artist, instagram is quite a hit amoungst the art crowd.

Kid you not the only reason why I'm still on iPhone is Becuz of instagram, I hope this means that fb will dump some money into making an android version

Already have an Android version: Instagram for Android (http://instagr.am/android/)

[threezero]

^ thats not the point of the app, the filter is like an add on, the community is what the app is about.

your into anime? there is an anime crowd. your into tattoos? there is a tattoo community on ig. your into sticker making? there is a crowd for that.

if yours into certain things and you post enough picture of it with the right tag eventually you will gain followers with the same interests that actually communicate with you on your photos.

try that with twitter or fb i doubt you will get anymore than 20 genuine followers who are not just creeping you.


actually who am i kidding fb is gonna ruin ig.......

[Greenstoner]

lol.. am i the only one hearing instagram for the first time ??

[mmmk]

No, I have a perfect idea of what it is.

Anyone can share photos across the world. It's not the newest thing on the internet. There's seriously thousands of platforms available. Why is this platform more prominent than others?

Well, lets just say anyone can spot an instagram photo over any other photos in general a mile away. Like I said earlier, let's not kid ourselves about what it's really about. Nowadays, anyone can slap on a filter and call themselves artistic.

LOL nobody is calling themselves artistic by making their pictures all fancy.
They are simply sharing photos. Same concept as twitter. Do you use instagram yourself?

[mmmk]

lol.. am i the only one hearing instagram for the first time ??

:alone:

[drunkrussian]

i know of it but dont use it and heard of its popularity and think its a great purchase

come on this thread expecting a discussion about business and instead ppl are ragging on hipsters and chicks and others for being stupid for using stupid instagram cause its stupid

o right all the highschool kids are stil at home today

[Tim Budong]

i find it ironic that the same people complaining are the same people uploading their instacrap to facebook

[insomniac]

LOL the arguments against Instagram in this thread is retarded. Love how people classify Instagram users as hipsters. No one said they're artsy if they use Instagram. This is just like how the general public classifies car enthusiasts or people with fart cans on their cars as street racers. The funniest thing is that people who are against Instagram probably never used it which is why they don't understand the concept behind why the app is so popular.

[Sky_High]

no. let's not kid ourselves at what it really is.

Instagram is: Mobile phone photo + Instagram Filter = ZOMG!!! I'm a photographer.

Wonder why so many people are being failed by insomniac? Because you guys aren't photographers :troll:

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/423926_10150737790592345_513332344_11166962_187306 2818_n.jpg
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/417007_10150737780197345_513332344_11166936_154393 5555_n.jpg
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/429755_10150732990927345_1086250881_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/295172_10150801657082345_513332344_11389190_481412 860_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/424842_10150738566572345_513332344_11168752_109083 7003_n.jpg

[rsx]

I'll be honest, I'm an instagram hater, I hate it when my friends take pictures with the damned sepia tone filter or some other stupid filter. Can't I just see a normal picture?? And if they do take a normal picture, they don't have a clue how to even adjust white/colour balance.

[SkinnyPupp]

I gave Instagram a try when it came out for Android. Honestly I really like the social part of it.. it's like Twitter or Facebook but just for photos.

The camera app though sucks... The filters are neat sometimes, but there are tons of other apps that do a better job at it.

But the reason Facebook paid so much for it is not for the app itself, but the HUGE userbase and brand.

And Instagram still has that lame hipster/apple idiot stigma that might finally go away.. I remember when I first heard about it, and I saw that they weren't going to make an Android version. They had to be talked into it...

That is how stupid and lucky the makers of this app are. They didn't even recognize that they could triple their userbase.. well they finally did it, and got bought for $1 billion the next week.

Fucking idiots :fulloffuck:

[achiam]

Way overpriced imo. For a billion why couldn't Facebook just make it's own app and market the crap out of it on Facebook.

Buying them out not only eliminates possible competition, but also gives them ownership of the competition's proprietary and IP property as well as their entire userbase.

[Manic!]

So what was a better buy YouTube for a Billion or Instagram?

[XplicitLuder]

youtube would be better..how is that even a comparison LOL :troll:

i dont dislike instagram, nor do i like it, perhaps cus i dont use it so idc. but holy shit at all this whining :fuckthatshit:

failawayyyyyyyyyyyyyy


ps : i only use fb to creeeep, so idgaf :fuckyea:

[mekaw]

lol. I guess news1130 screwed up. I heard this on the radio and news1130 said google bought it.

[Tim Budong]

So what was a better buy YouTube for a Billion or Instagram?

:rukidding:

Youtube is a much more profitable outlet compared to instagram....

[Meowjin]

Dude, you being a photographer has nothing to do with it. You have no idea what it is.

Instagram is: an app anyone can use to instantly share photos with others across the world.

thank you. Can't believe how this thread is coming out.

[Meowjin]

I gave Instagram a try when it came out for Android. Honestly I really like the social part of it.. it's like Twitter or Facebook but just for photos.

The camera app though sucks... The filters are neat sometimes, but there are tons of other apps that do a better job at it.

But the reason Facebook paid so much for it is not for the app itself, but the HUGE userbase and brand.

And Instagram still has that lame hipster/apple idiot stigma that might finally go away.. I remember when I first heard about it, and I saw that they weren't going to make an Android version. They had to be talked into it...

That is how stupid and lucky the makers of this app are. They didn't even recognize that they could triple their userbase.. well they finally did it, and got bought for $1 billion the next week.

Fucking idiots :fulloffuck:

you never know about exclusivity rights....

[SkinnyPupp]

you never know about exclusivity rights....
Wat?

[Meowjin]

Wat?

apple might have signed a deal with instagram to make sure the app was "apple only"

as stupid as that sounds, it wouldn't suprise me if there were not a bunch of apps like that.

[SkinnyPupp]

Exclusives may exist, usually they are timed. In this case, they specifically had the attitude that it should be for iphone only, because of the 'culture' or whatever bullshit...

[$_$]

apple might have signed a deal with instagram to make sure the app was "apple only"

as stupid as that sounds, it wouldn't suprise me if there were not a bunch of apps like that.

Watched an interview with the CEO of instagram today (IDK if it was pre or post FB buyout or not) but he said building an android version of instagram was a top priority

[SkinnyPupp]

Watched an interview with the CEO of instagram today (IDK if it was pre or post FB buyout or not) but he said building an android version of instagram was a top priority
Ah so that's why they had TWO people working on it!

[insomniac]

Wonder why so many people are being failed by insomniac? Because you guys aren't photographers :troll:


No, it's because the arguments against Instagram are so :facepalm:
It's pretty much talking shit about someone you don't know.

[$_$]

Ah so that's why they had TWO people working on it!

Lol, they said they grew their company from 4 to 6 people when they were signing up 1 million users per 1 or 2 weeks. Not bad for a 1 billion company :whistle:...

[will068]

Ah so that's why they had TWO people working on it!


Don't hate, that's almost 20% of their staff. :troll:

[will068]

The main reason why Facebook bought Instagram is to protect their share in the Social Networking Market. Instagram became an instant threat to Facebook. Look, you can upload photos, share photos, connect with people, and has gained quite a bit if users. Guess what, Facebook has those attributes.

If Facebook didn't buy Instagram, it would have been bought by Google, another company wanting to enter the market space, or may have potentially become a viable threat on its own. Imagine Yahoo or Microsoft actually buying Google in 1998, or how Microsoft bought Hotmail for $300 million and was chastised to be a terrible deal for MS.

Is it worth 1 billion dollars ? Let me ask you this, if you had the option to buy Twitter for 1 billion dollars right now, would you ?

This thread is a laugh trip with people actually criticizing how feeble Instagram is. It's no Photoshop. Sure some people may feel like a "Graphic Designer" or an artist. But hey, it helped it made Instagram a hit.

[Manic!]

The main reason why Facebook bought Instagram is to protect their share in the Social Networking Market. Instagram became an instant threat to Facebook. Look, you can upload photos, share photos, connect with people, and has gained quite a bit if users. Guess what, Facebook has those attributes.

If Facebook didn't buy Instagram, it would have been bought by Google, another company wanting to enter the market space, or may have potentially become a viable threat on its own. Imagine Yahoo or Microsoft actually buying Google in 1998, or how Microsoft bought Hotmail for $300 million and was chastised to be a terrible deal for MS.

Is it worth 1 billion dollars ? Let me ask you this, if you had the option to buy Twitter for 1 billion dollars right now, would you ?

This thread is a laugh trip with people actually criticizing how feeble Instagram is. It's no Photoshop. Sure some people may feel like a "Graphic Designer" or an artist. But hey, it helped it made Instagram a hit.

Whould you buy Myspace for a Billion dollars. Kevin o'leary on his show today said it was a bad deal and he would never buy a company that relied on the like or dislike of 18 year old girls.

[.Renn.Sport]

:rukidding:

Youtube is a much more profitable outlet compared to instagram....


its not even about profitability
with the acquisition facebook is gonna earn ten folds more with its IPO

spending $1B is totally worth it when they can get $10B in return

[.Renn.Sport]

Started a while ago with IPOs for Groupon, LinkedIn, Yelp, Angie's list, etc

its actually really easy to get an IPO as a tech company, but this time, the companies do have some sort of asset oppose to 10 years ago

[ae101]

i think this is stupid cuz its not even really worth it as BREAKING news

[will068]

Whould you buy Myspace for a Billion dollars. Kevin o'leary on his show today said it was a bad deal and he would never buy a company that relied on the like or dislike of 18 year old girls.

In hindsight, no. Back in the day (2005), Ruport Murdoch bought it for $580 million. And that's already paying a 100% premium on what the seller thinks their actual worth was.

[will068]

i think this is stupid cuz its not even really worth it as BREAKING news

Anytime a company is bought for a billion dollars that consist of only a dozen people, that's news regardless

[dangonay]

***snip***

Fucking idiots :fulloffuck:That's the first thing I thought when they got a billion dollars for their company. What a bunch of idiots.

Whould you buy Myspace for a Billion dollars. Kevin o'leary on his show today said it was a bad deal and he would never buy a company that relied on the like or dislike of 18 year old girls.Would you invest millions of dollars making a movie that only targeted teen girls (Twilight anyone)?

People can rag on and on about the demographic of people who like Instagram or Justin Bieber, but the fact is they are cash cows. People who target these demographics and make money at it are the smart ones.

[Manic!]

That's the first thing I thought when they got a billion dollars for their company. What a bunch of idiots.

Would you invest millions of dollars making a movie that only targeted teen girls (Twilight anyone)?

People can rag on and on about the demographic of people who like Instagram or Justin Bieber, but the fact is they are cash cows. People who target these demographics and make money at it are the smart ones.

Twilight had a proven track record of making money before the first film was shot. Turning a popular book into a movie is a safe bet.

Buying an app that makes no money is a big gamble.

[SkinnyPupp]

That's the first thing I thought when they got a billion dollars for their company. What a bunch of idiots.


You know, sometimes people stumble into success completely by accident. Or even worse, in spite of their own abilities and/or ideas. I think this is one of those times

[Meowjin]

Any girls to follow who post some r-rated stuff?

[goo3]

How Instagram founder Kevin Systrom won the start-up sweepstakes - latimes.com (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-instagram-systrom-20120411,0,3447134,full.story)

[Psykopathik]

gets idea for app

"make good photos look like shit and share with friends, brilliant!"

Facebook: I will pay eleventy billion dollars for it!

Instagram: :fuckyea::lawl:

[dangonay]

Twilight had a proven track record of making money before the first film was shot. Turning a popular book into a movie is a safe bet.

Buying an app that makes no money is a big gamble.Way to miss the point. Criticizing something because you don't like the target audience is stupid. I don't know if Instagram users are all little teen girls posting useless pics, but even if they were, who cares? It's still a user base of 30 million people and that's what Facebook bought, not the App.

Do you know O'Leary's history? He founded SoftKey, a software company that made and distributed simple freeware and shareware software for home consumers. He later went on to purchase many rivals including The Learning Company and Broderbund. He then sold everything to Mattel for a whopping $3.8 billion, wildly considered to be one of the worst deals in history and resulted in many heads rolling and Mattel being sued by their shareholders.

So to see O'Leary criticizing Instagram because of their demographic of "18 year old girls" is funny considering the target audience for his high-end software like The Print Shop and the fact he made a killing dumping his company onto Mattel.

If anything he should be accusing Instagram of copying his idea of "selling your tech company to someone for several times its actual worth and making a killing". Or maybe praising them for being able to pull the same thing on Facebook that he pulled on Mattel.

How Instagram founder Kevin Systrom won the start-up sweepstakes - latimes.com (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-instagram-systrom-20120411,0,3447134,full.story)
Good read. When you look at the history of Systrom, who he went to school with and whose paths he crossed over the years it seems he was destined to create something big.

[bobbyhill]

Any girls to follow who post some r-rated stuff?

theyre all on photobucket