Live data from Hacker News

Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

bloomberg.com

101–110 of 394 posts

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#101
post #99
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains. Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it? I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but i…

> I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. That's like feeling bad for someone who sold bitcoins at $10. The company they sold was worth $1bn (to Facebook) at the time. It was not worth $100bn.

I also feel bad for us, as users, because social media (at least the friend-focused kind) is dominated by one dude's vision.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#102

I wonder about Instagram's success if they had decided to reject the Facebook acquisition. While there's no way to know who got the better end of the deal, it would be better for the tech ecosystem to have more large players and their success feels inevitable in hindsight.

I guess you could look at Snap. Independent of the other big players who ejected being acquired.

I think Instagram has much better business fundamentals than Snapchat though. There was nowhere near as much of a struggle to monetize Instagram as Snapchat from what I recall.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#103
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains. Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it? I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but i…

> I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg Like Snapchat, you mean? The risk is that, failing to acquire Instagram, Facebook could have built a clone and turned their massive user base to it. Instagram could have been in a distant third place. We'll never know.

I am not sure if Facebook was already seen as the Pacman of social things. It could have been Google or MS (and had I been in the shoes of Instagram founders and reached for acquisition I would have had gone with Facebook: better long term perspectives).

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#104
post #81
post #60

I remember the outrage when Zuckerberg bought Insta for $1bn. The Internet was filled with bubble-theorist. Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains. Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it? I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but i…

I'd feel bad for the employees who took unnecessary dilution less than a week before instagram was bought by facebook.

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/instagram#section-lo...

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#105
post #87
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Say what you want about Zuckerberg but the guy was well ahead of his time and could see how things would evolve and what tick with people brains. Did he really predict that, or did he just see an upcoming potential competitive threat and buy it? I feel bad for the founders of Instagram. They could have been the next Zuckerberg(s) (as Instagram seems to be taking over as Facebook seems to be starting to fade), but i…

You "feel sorry" for two people in their mid-twenties who made anywhere from $100M to $400M selling their 15 month old company (while making the other 11 employees rich along the way.) Ok. Beyond that, why do you assume the valuation would be exactly the same had they not sold to FB?

It was cash & stock deal, so presumably the 100M-400M could be worth more given FB stock price.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#106

I wonder about Instagram's success if they had decided to reject the Facebook acquisition. While there's no way to know who got the better end of the deal, it would be better for the tech ecosystem to have more large players and their success feels inevitable in hindsight.

Facebook probably would have copied them somehow, though I don't know if it would have been successful. FB's duplicate of Snapchat has been a huge success and is a major part of IG today. I don't know if FB would have been able to successfully replace Snapchat without using the Instagram app as a springboard.

Instagram Stories seem like a logical extension of Instagram itself. Adding a pure photosharing section to Facebook or something like that in order to copy Instagram seems much more redundant and difficult.

To be fair though, the minds of Facebook have much more incentive to find a good way to do so than I do

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#107
post #48

I've long had a theory (maybe it's not that revolutionary) that part of Instagram's success is it allowed people a free pass to be vain and show off-y. On Facebook, it was a bit stigmatized to post a picture of an expensive purchase, amazing house interior, fancy vacation, or workout picture of your physique. However, it's the entire point of Instagram. Couple that in with all the brands and other accounts of inspira…

Instagram is basically Twitter where you have to post a photo. I agree that Instagram could not have grown to this size without being part of Facebook.

I think it could have been the other way around. Media and folks could have compared the growth of Instagram, which would have been a competing product with Facebook, and it could have given good mileage to Instagram, especially after the privacy fiasco and hate towards Facebook, Instagram could have been positioned as a Facebook replacement and there by shooting up it's value further.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#108
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, it's loading up Instagram and seeing just a bunch of interesting photos. Minimal memes, no link shares, and it's rare a comments thread that devolves into insanity.

Yeah, which is another reason they got rid of the chronological timeline. People were opening the app so often and frequently, they had to ensure fresh content. This way they can track which photos you've seen, and make sure to float to the top ones you missed. Edit: All the points below are true too, of course. I do find myself subconsciously opening instagram a scary amount, so seems one reason to switch it up woul…

The real reason behind the non-chronological feed is to keep you longer on the app.

With a chronological feed, you remember where you left off, so when you scroll down to that point you know you’re all caught up and there isn’t more to see.

With a non-chronological feed, you end up scrolling down way more by fear of missing out, giving them the opportunity to show you way more cancer aka ads.

Re: Instagram Is Estimated to Be Worth More Than $100B

#109

I enjoy IG because I have narrower friends and family there. ...and Orvis. Love flyfishing and honestly I couldn't consume the content there or see amazing fishing or be "up" on their stuff by watching tv or browsing. It's condensed. I tried following some skiing stuff but just get spammed by people trying to hawk stupid ski sayings on tshirts. Mostly recycled junk. I now almost have more followers by people hawking…

I get a t-shirt spam account following me roughly every day or two, except for climbing crap.

Report them for spam. Instagram nukes a lot of them, and either way you end up blocking them.

Post reply on HN