What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram • Hacker News Board

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#61

Post by dasil003 » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:00 AM UTC

logicallee wrote: post #52

dasil003 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no mention of salaries in that article. It seems like you are a little bit jealous and rampantly speculating about this whole scenario. Obviously with the trajectory Instagram was on it was much easier to hire with equity. I don't know what you mean about the "level of talent" though. There are hundreds of small teams with the talent level of Instagram both in and out of the valley, but talent does not guara…

I'm not jealous at all. Talent is one thing, but do you honestly think you can have a professional team working on the payroll that (I assume) Instagram had? I just don't see it happening. one thing is you are right, I don't have detailed payroll figures. I was going on the prevailing wind and the fact that the employees were 20-somethigns.

You're just piling one assumption on top of another.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#62

Post by dasil003 » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:05 AM UTC

logicallee wrote: post #53

dasil003 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a foreign national who can't move to the valley? Because you certainly have an extremely distorted view of reality. People are not being hired with pure equity with the ease you seem to think. Also, I might add as the co-founder of a growing startup with offices in both Palo Alto and London, salaries are higher and competition for employees stiffer in the valley.

Let me put it to you this way. Can you hire a talented CEO in London within the next month, who will work for you for below half the median wage in London and be able to build a company with you and a cofounder that is worth $10M within a year? In the valley, this is easy. You do have to give up equity though. In London, the above will get you shown the door, with a grin. Haha, good luck.

I'll ignore the fact that hiring a CEO is something that startups pretty much do not do and ask you this: why do you think it's so easy to hire top talent on primarily equity?

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#63

Post by pathy » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:07 AM UTC

Skibb wrote: post #38

Ugh this is linkbait and upvote-bait if I ever saw one. The whole tone of the article is so contrived and fake-mysterious that it's kind of digusting. Basically the whole thing can be tracked down to a rich privileged white kid doing what rich privileged kids do. NOTHING worth reading about here. And the shitty app could maybe start about thinking of getting some cash flow.

You appear to be very jealous of their success. This is Hacker News, we should celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit and look at the lessons that can be learned from success stories like this.

If I could build Instagram and sell it for $1b I sure as hell would. Might not be saving the world but people appear enjoy using it so who cares. They did manage to sell a company for $1b, a feat which practically all of us never will achieve.

That said, they probably should try to get some cash flow some time soon.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#64

Post by [deleted] » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:09 AM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #62

logicallee wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me put it to you this way. Can you hire a talented CEO in London within the next month, who will work for you for below half the median wage in London and be able to build a company with you and a cofounder that is worth $10M within a year? In the valley, this is easy. You do have to give up equity though. In London, the above will get you shown the door, with a grin. Haha, good luck.

I'll ignore the fact that hiring a CEO is something that startups pretty much do not do and ask you this: why do you think it's so easy to hire top talent on primarily equity?

[deleted]

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#65

Post by hagy » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:13 AM UTC

Kiro wrote: post #55

SandB0x wrote: post #31

You may as well be reading about a rock band here. This story does not and will not apply to you. This is the one in a thousand/million fairy-tale of the frivolous app dreamed up in coffee shops, fuelled by rapid investment and sold for vast sums to a tech giant without so much as a whiff of a business model.

What's with the negativity? Are you telling inspiring musicians to stop trying as well?

If an aspiring musician were only motivated by the chance of making it big, I would definitely tell them to stop trying. Not because they’re pursuing an irrational goal, but because that’s not sufficient motivation to get through all the shit it takes to have a chance at making it big in music.

Similarly with startups, if someone is only motivated by a huge exit then they won’t last through the years of low-success and failure that precede building a moderately successful business. Individual who succeed in these careers get some satisfaction out of the process and the small successes along the way (e.g. performing before ten people in a bar or having one potential customer get excited about your new product).

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#66

Post by kmfrk » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:22 AM UTC

Skibb wrote: post #39

gbog wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> writing style I beg to differ, I yawned on the first page, on the second page, and got somewhere else. Information density is very low. It looks like this journalist, as many other, is paid by the line, and adds too much water in the soup.

Indeed, writing is vapid at best.

Vapid is too strong a word, but it nothing but glorifies successful start-ups, and provides no caution for people who'd like to learn something from this. The only conflict described is agonizing over which multi-gazillion offer to take(!).

It's also fairly thin on new insights into the history and acquisition.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#67

Post by logicallee » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:28 AM UTC

SandB0x wrote: post #31

You may as well be reading about a rock band here. This story does not and will not apply to you. This is the one in a thousand/million fairy-tale of the frivolous app dreamed up in coffee shops, fuelled by rapid investment and sold for vast sums to a tech giant without so much as a whiff of a business model.

I see.

Let's say I see a big incumbent who's UNIQUE selling point is 'we have everyone's private photos. people have to come to us if they want to see their friend's photos.'

I start threatening them.

They pay and buy us.

I get rich. The incumbent gets to keep everyone's photos.

At what point in the above do we not have a business model?

Oh, you mean it can't possibly WORK! Except that it just did.

Well, I'm sorry, but something that just worked obviously did work.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#68

Post by logicallee » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:32 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #28

brazzy wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So when do you think tehy'll start doing that again?

There seems to be this terrible misunderstanding that 'VC' is a uniform unit the multiple of which is VCs. In fact, every VC is different, every VC has their own ideas of what companies are good to fund and which they'd rather pass on. So, right now there are VCs that will not fund companies that do not have a clear idea of how they're going to become profitable.

The only terrible thing about the misunderstanding that VC's are uniform herd animals who all act the same way, have the saem ideas of what's good and what they'd rather pass on, is that it's true!

Terrible but true. You will literally see vc look at the other VC and do exactly what they're doing.

You can literally create your own VC market by making VC A think that VC B is interested, which is true, because VC B is interested in anything that VC A is interested in.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#69

Post by SandB0x » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:32 AM UTC

logicallee wrote: post #67

SandB0x wrote: post #31

You may as well be reading about a rock band here. This story does not and will not apply to you. This is the one in a thousand/million fairy-tale of the frivolous app dreamed up in coffee shops, fuelled by rapid investment and sold for vast sums to a tech giant without so much as a whiff of a business model.

I see. Let's say I see a big incumbent who's UNIQUE selling point is 'we have everyone's private photos. people have to come to us if they want to see their friend's photos.' I start threatening them. They pay and buy us. I get rich. The incumbent gets to keep everyone's photos. At what point in the above do we not have a business model? Oh, you mean it can't possibly WORK! Except that it just did. Well, I'm sorry, b…

You seem to have snuck in "I start threatening them." as if that is easy and repeatable.

Re: What Really Happened When Facebook Bought Instagram

#70

Post by logicallee » Mon, May 06, 2013, 11:35 AM UTC

SandB0x wrote: post #69

logicallee wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see. Let's say I see a big incumbent who's UNIQUE selling point is 'we have everyone's private photos. people have to come to us if they want to see their friend's photos.' I start threatening them. They pay and buy us. I get rich. The incumbent gets to keep everyone's photos. At what point in the above do we not have a business model? Oh, you mean it can't possibly WORK! Except that it just did. Well, I'm sorry, b…

You seem to have snuck in "I start threatening them." as if that is easy and repeatable.

You seem to have snuck in the word "easy" there.

Out of curiosity - what percentage of real, viable business plans do you think are "easy"?

Seriously though. While not easy, it is 100% repeatable - it is one of the great ways to build a business. (Actually, regardless of whether the incumbent buys you out - their investors or those who regret being investors migth instead.)