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WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

forbes.com

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Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#21

Post by tumetab1 »

mattnewport wrote: post #7

This article seems a little unfair to the WhatsApp founders when it suggests they should have known that any assurances Facebook made to them as part of the acquisition were obviously lies. Sure in 2018 it might be obvious to most of us that nothing Facebook says or promises can be trusted but I don't think that was necessarily as obvious when the acquisition happened and they can be forgiven for thinking they weren'…

Then knew what Facebook would try but they choose to believe it woudln't work. It's easy to choose that with that much millions of incentive.

It's not their fault as it was not their responsibility to provide a private message service for free to millions of people.

This is just how it works, if want to be principled you can't make agreements with the devil.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#22

Post by LeoNatan25 »

cowpig wrote: post #19
scarface74 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What year would it be ok to be naive enough to think that any for profit company’s main motivation is not to make as much money possible?

There is such a thing as business ethics. Facebook's complete disregard for them should not be the norm, even if it, sadly, might be more often than not.

It has been the norm in Silicone Valley for many years, unfortunately. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be appalled by it anyway, but perhaps just more cynical.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#23

Post by beaconstudios »

cd_et_toss wrote: post #14
scarface74 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What year would it be ok to be naive enough to think that any for profit company’s main motivation is not to make as much money possible?

It hasn't been always true, historically, that for-profit companies seek only to enrich their shareholders at all cost. https://www.boston.com/news/policy/2018/08/16/elizabeth-warr... "Warren attributes those problems to a shift, which she says dates back to the 1980s, in the obligations of corporations — from balancing responsibilities to all their stakeholders — including both employees and stock owners — to priori…

or in other words, we can thank the stock market and pressure on public companies to focus on quarterly growth at all costs over long-term sustainability and a balanced approach.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#24

Post by pengstrom »

goshx wrote: post #6
tumetab1 wrote: post #4

> The company is also set to charge businesses for messages they receive from potential customers via the WhatsApp platform — of between a half a penny and 9 cents, depending on the country. Didn't knew this and takes back to the outrageous SMS pricing of 10 cents per SMS. I as a consumer can change easily but it's sad to see that business will have to deal with this crap.

While I understand the sentiment and generally agree with you, someone has to pay for the service, right? And businesses have been paying for all those Toll Free calls customers are making. It's only toll free for the caller.

Isn't more an issue about starting out free, attracting business to the platform and then start charging?

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#25

Post by fredoliveira »

jiveturkey wrote: post #17

“used him” i have little sympathy for such actors. i’ve known people who got rich on stock options in the ‘00s and then fled california while decrying the rat race. this is the same thing. if you really mean it, donate all the money to charity, an ed foundation, or some such. i’ll even forgive you for keeping 10mm for yourself. otherwise, cry me a river.

From the article (first paragraph, too):

> Brian Acton, who left Facebook a year ago — before going on to publicly bite the hand that fed him, by voicing support for the #DeleteFacebook movement (and donating $50M to alternative encrypted messaging app, Signal)

And:

> And for leaving a cool ~$850M in unvested stock on the table by not sticking it out a few more months inside Zuckerberg’s mothership, as co-founder Jan Koum did.

Sounds like this actor may in fact be worthy of a little sympathy.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#26

Post by 394549 »

cowpig wrote: post #19
scarface74 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What year would it be ok to be naive enough to think that any for profit company’s main motivation is not to make as much money possible?

There is such a thing as business ethics. Facebook's complete disregard for them should not be the norm, even if it, sadly, might be more often than not.

>> What year would it be ok to be naive enough to think that any for profit company’s main motivation is not to make as much money possible?

> There is such a thing as business ethics.

> Facebook's complete disregard for them should not be the norm, even if it, sadly, might be more often than not.

It's alarming how businesses' lack of business ethics is getting normalized by comments like the grandparent's. We should require that companies be ethical and condemn them when they aren't. Yes, we'll often be disappointed, just like we're disappointed with the fraction of humanity that becomes criminal, but that doesn't mean we should lower our standards.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#27

Post by cryptozeus »

Jyaif wrote: post #11

How an individual can leave $850M on the table to prove a point blows my mind. I'm in awe at that guy, but I can't help but think that with $850M he could have funded so many interesting projects/research.

When you have money and principles you believe in, its not that hard.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#28

Post by abalone »

mattnewport wrote: post #7

This article seems a little unfair to the WhatsApp founders when it suggests they should have known that any assurances Facebook made to them as part of the acquisition were obviously lies. Sure in 2018 it might be obvious to most of us that nothing Facebook says or promises can be trusted but I don't think that was necessarily as obvious when the acquisition happened and they can be forgiven for thinking they weren'…

Come. On. You don’t get to that kind of valuation with a basically free product without ad targeting. An accelerated vesting clause is not an assurance. If they wanted assurances they could have made it a condition of the deal, ok? They didn’t. Accelerated vesting just means they were telegraphing that they wanted to leave before the shit hit the fan.

Re: WhatsApp Cofounder Brian Acton on Why He Left $850M Behind

#30

Post by kennywinker »

nasredin wrote: post #2

SavedYouAClick: because he is a billionaire. I am amazed at just the plain stupidity of some of the writers of well nown papers.

At major news outlets, the person who writes the article is not the same as the person who writes the headline.
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