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Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

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Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain your reasoning behind this?

Because Path is almost certainly in a death spiral, based based on the layoffs and talent exodus. Because their CEO is Dave Morin, who hasn't done himself any favors by sounding like a huge douchebag [1]. Because they're a social media app on the wane, which is as good as a dead social media app. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/my-phone/2013/03/dave-mori...

That's kind of a shame. Path was one of the social networks that I didn't hate.

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#32
post #28
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty solid reason for an investor there to take on risk. I imagine they're users themselves then too.

A $500 million dollar valuation based on being strong in Indonesia? Something doesn't add up.

Indonesia is the 16th highest GDP in the world. 4th most populous. If they can take and hold Indonesia, they might be able to continue into Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Owning that much of the growing 3rd world in Asia in 10 years of compounded growth in those countries is worth a lot of money to a lot of really big tech companies. It's an easy thesis when Google and Facebook are willing to pay up for social networks.

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#33
The Bakrie group also owns a wireless telecommunication company in Indonesia [1]. Apparently this is a strategic move to increase wireless data usage and number of subscribers [2].

[1] http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/s... [2] http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&...

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#34
post #30

Such negativity in this thread. Do we all love to hate someone who is working hard on their startup just because they are jerks[1]? Even if the CEO is a jerk, they have a nicely designed product with a seemingly noble goal, with a talented pool of people working behind the scenes, working towards their objectives. Sure, they have their bad moments (pun intended), being caught uploading users' address books, spamming…

> Sure, they have their bad moments (pun intended), being caught uploading users' address books, spamming user's friends with invites and perhaps paying for downloads. No one's perfect and some of us sometimes do try to stretch things a little to see how far we can go. Don't we?

Are you being sarcastic here? I can't tell. Uploading your users' address books to your servers without permission isn't just 'stretching things a little', it's a textbook privacy violation.

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#37
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $500 million dollar valuation based on being strong in Indonesia? Something doesn't add up.

Indonesia is the 16th highest GDP in the world. 4th most populous. If they can take and hold Indonesia, they might be able to continue into Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Owning that much of the growing 3rd world in Asia in 10 years of compounded growth in those countries is worth a lot of money to a lot of really big tech companies. It's an easy thesis when Google and Facebook are willing to pay up for s…

Interesting, but this may be a spectacular own goal.

Indonesians probably found Path interesting because it was foreign. They probably didn't care that a company in San Francisco was slurping up their address book. However, a local conglomerate with a dodgy reputation?

http://en.dailysocial.net/post/outrage-over-announcement-tha...

>Indonesians outraged

The investment news from Bakrie sent a shock across Indonesia. Across Twitter and Path, people are talking as if the group had acquired Path and many have decided to remove Path from their devices...

The Bakrie Group and family has a terrible reputation in the country. As per the Jakarta Post report in February 2013, Bakrie Life has been in a deadlock with its clients regarding a failed investment scheme...

The group’s largest indiscretion in the country, and one that’s causing much of people’s anger towards the family, is the seven year mudflow in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java. The ecological disaster has been attributed to Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie-owned company, which conducted a drilling expedition in the area in 2006...

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#38

Funding tip for failing startups: when all the domestic investors have cottoned on to the fact that you're full of shit, just go abroad to find someone who's gullible and has a lot of money.

Funding tip for smart startups who recognise that their target demographic is shifting: Find investors in regions where your traction and growth figures peak. Having insight in SE Asia and Indonesia in particular, their familiarity, engagement and loyalty with Path (and Twitter) is incredible and such an announcement shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with knowledge of and interest in SE Asia and Indonesia in particular.

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#39
post #38

Funding tip for failing startups: when all the domestic investors have cottoned on to the fact that you're full of shit, just go abroad to find someone who's gullible and has a lot of money.

Funding tip for smart startups who recognise that their target demographic is shifting: Find investors in regions where your traction and growth figures peak. Having insight in SE Asia and Indonesia in particular, their familiarity, engagement and loyalty with Path (and Twitter) is incredible and such an announcement shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with knowledge of and interest in SE Asia and Indonesia in particul…

So far, no outside/foreign social networking site have successfully exploit SE Asia even after their explosive growth in that region.

Friendster, dead.

Multiply, dead.

Plurk, soon to be dead (or dead already).

There's a big boom in Asia in general that is a known fact. But when it comes to SE Asia, the profit margin is small in USD unless you're operating under the local currency (i.e.: have your office there, do your business there, etc).

If the HQ is in SF where everybody lives and breathes SF bubble and not in SE Asia or Indonesia, you won't have much insight other than some generic dataset (country X loves to post pictures, for example).

Web-apps that make money tend to be E-commerce sites (http://tiket.com) that have complex affiliates behind it.

Eyeballs type of apps (web, mobile, anything) generate lifestyle business, not Facebook level IPO.

The real winner is the founder who can flip his/her company for multi-million-(usa)-dollars to the highest bidder (typically the conglomerate family).

PS: Oddly enough, SE Asia is where the phone companies peaked and die. Nokia, Blackberry, the pattern is striking!

Re: Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group

#40
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $500 million dollar valuation based on being strong in Indonesia? Something doesn't add up.

Indonesia is the 16th highest GDP in the world. 4th most populous. If they can take and hold Indonesia, they might be able to continue into Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Owning that much of the growing 3rd world in Asia in 10 years of compounded growth in those countries is worth a lot of money to a lot of really big tech companies. It's an easy thesis when Google and Facebook are willing to pay up for s…

See my response here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7043851

In short: SE Asia is where Social Networking sites die.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see people come and try to turn this around (e.g.: make money as a hi-tech company in my home country) but so far the facts have stated otherwise.

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