Yahoo Tries to Woo Facebook With $900 Million

my advice . . . by recordMyRides · 2006-09-22 08:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

Take it you fool!

--
Track and chart data from your bike computer.

Re:my advice . . . by saha · 2006-09-22 08:48 · Score: 1

Or perhaps we have another Jean-Louis Gassée in the making.
Re:my advice . . . by RovingSlug · 2006-09-22 10:37 · Score: 2, Interesting

Or more likely, the founders got screwed on terms from their investors (Accel, for instance) and a $2 billion sale translates to like $2 million for the founders. Just guessing.

Hmmm... by Otter · 2006-09-22 08:37 · Score: 5, Insightful

I dunno ... $900 million from Yahoo is enough to buy a basketball team, pay exorbitant fines to the NBA and periodically hold forth on business as though you're Henry Ford, not some clown who unloaded his dot-bomb on some suckers just before it imploded.

--
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...

Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:45 · Score: 0

You say this as though Mark Cuban didn't successfully unload a dot-com for big bucks before it imploded.

I suppose the responsible thing would have been to use supernatural clairvoyance to predict how the bubble burst would affect his business, and then choose to go down with the ship. That insensitive clod! Didn't he know companies are obligated to do everything possible to protect other companies!

I, for one, welcome Dallas's non-eternal-losers Maverick basketball team, ushered in by Cuban.
Re:Hmmm... by xENoLocO · 2006-09-22 08:53 · Score: 2, Insightful

And why would open registration make it fail? Just because you dislike the additions doesn't mean everyone else will. In fact, I would rather point out that you're in the minority in that thought. These guys are going to do whats best for the business, and opening registration means more money... plain and simple.

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"The need to build the internet comes from something inside us, something programmed... something we can't resist."
Re:Hmmm... by megaditto · 2006-09-22 08:55 · Score: 4, Interesting

It sure sounds like much, but it isn't. Some of it will be in Yahoo stock (PITA to unload), and nearly half of it will be taken away in taxes!

Instead, the owner currently has $50m/year tax-free (since he re-invests ALL of it into the company). This is projected to double next year.

Also, considering his aspirations of becoming the next Jobs or Brin, perhaps selling off is not the best idea?

--
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
Re:Hmmm... by larry+bagina · 2006-09-22 09:12 · Score: 3, Informative

The open registration uses the facebook infrastructure, but is in a completely different, walled off partition than the existing college user space facebook.
Orkut has a closed registration system and nobody gives a shit about them. There are obviously other factors involved.

--
Do you even lift?
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Re:Hmmm... by TubeSteak · 2006-09-22 09:14 · Score: 1

When someone offers you $750 Million and you respond with "Two Billion",
it's a subtle way of saying "F*ck you"

When someone offers you $900 Million and you seriously consider it...
Either
1. You don't think your property is now worth $2 Billion
2. You like the company offering to buy
3. He needs the money?

--
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Re:Hmmm... by Ruff_ilb · 2006-09-22 09:31 · Score: 2, Interesting

Alternatively, the value that he got for $750 mil might not have offered him the amount of autonomy he wanted; if, for example, they wanted to buy him out and shut him out of the loop, he might have wanted 2000 mil for that. Now, if yahoo is going to buy him but still allow him to do his own thing, he might consider a lot less - in this case, 900 mil.

--
http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 10:21 · Score: 0

http://www.texasgigs.com/news/2006/aug/07/cuban-hd net-true-music/

hehe, nevermind all that
Re:Hmmm... by Fear+the+Clam · 2006-09-22 11:01 · Score: 1

if, for example, they wanted to buy him out and shut him out of the loop, he might have wanted 2000 mil for that

Dude, it's fucking facebook. You think anyone aside from dim investors actually cares about being in that loop?

Sell the stock and get out of the dotcom biz. The only thing more depressing than being known as 'the dumbass who could have had $750 mil but held out for more' is being known as 'the next Marc Andreessen.'
Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 11:03 · Score: 0

There are several reasons that Mark might not consider the buyou--

Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred.
This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group.
Re:Hmmm... by Jeff+DeMaagd · 2006-09-22 11:18 · Score: 1, Interesting

The chances of being the "next" Jobs, etc. is very, very low, though if you are right, the owner of Facebook has a better shot than most people, a better shot than any Slashdot reader of course. Even for him, it is still very low. I can't even imagine that a Mark-note about where Facebook is headed would interest very many people, not nearly as many as a Steve-note.

It also really depends on whether the site can be constantly re-invented to keep up with what keeps its users interested. If they miss a trend and its users wander off elsewhere, that can really hurt.

That's just one of the things that bother me whenever I consider investing in or starting a technology company. One might say that for technology, fate and success are fickle mistresses. Product development cycles are often longer than fad cycles so it's hard to target of hold onto a technology fad. Far too many tech companies have simply died because they chose the wrong development path or simply lost its competitive edge at the wrong time.
Re:Hmmm... by robertjw · 2006-09-22 12:13 · Score: 1

The chances of being the "next" Jobs, etc. is very, very low

True enough, but building a webite that makes $50 Million a year or sells for $900 Million is very, very, very low as well. Someone is goning to be the next Jobs, Gates, Brin, whatever. This guy's odds probably increased significantly since he already has a wildly successful dot com.

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Re:Hmmm... by Typhon100 · 2006-09-22 12:25 · Score: 1

Just because you don't care about facebook doesn't mean other people don't. Especially those who devoted over 2 years of their lives to creating it. If you took something from a fun little project in the science center basement to a $50 million dollar/year, $900 million dollar company with almost 10 million users, you might care about it too.
Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 12:27 · Score: 0

Folks at Google seem to have found a way to deal with the issue you raise: collect enough smart people and throw money at any idea they come up with, and see what comes out.

With a large (and captive) audience and just enough innovation one cannot lose (look at Microsoft).
Re:Hmmm... by Fear+the+Clam · 2006-09-22 13:16 · Score: 1

Ummmm, no.

The fun part is already over. Now it's just about marketing deals and tie-ins, which is not nearly as much fun as watching the thing get off the ground.
Re:Hmmm... by Z34107 · 2006-09-22 17:47 · Score: 1

"Marketing deals" and "tie-ins" == $$$

That's not fun? Hell, I do a lot of things that aren't fun (like work) for $$$

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DATABASE WOW WOW
Re:Hmmm... by Fear+the+Clam · 2006-09-22 23:28 · Score: 1

The guy's already been offered the $$$. How much more does he want?
Re:Hmmm... by geminidomino · 2006-09-23 01:36 · Score: 1

He's obviously holding out for $$$$$ or even $$$$$$
Re:Hmmm... by LilGuy · 2006-09-23 02:20 · Score: 1

What is this NBA you speak of? Sports discussions have no place on slashdot thank you. :P Seriously though, I'm not following your comment very well...

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You're nothing; like me.

Take the Money and Run by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:39 · Score: 3, Interesting

Congrats! You won the lotto. Twice. You can always quit and go do something fun with your 900 million dollars, but only if you have that money. Don't worry about us, we can make another site with the same functionality. We are the world, we'll be ok. Now go cash in!

Re:Take the Money and Run by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:35 · Score: 0

Except Zuckerberg only owns 30% of Facebook, so he'd just get $270 million from the deal...
Re:Take the Money and Run by djdavetrouble · 2006-09-22 10:56 · Score: 1

omg I really botched that one !

--
music lover since 1969
Re:Take the Money and Run by Kyle_Katarn-(ISF) · 2006-09-22 11:05 · Score: 1

You say that like $270 million isn't much. Hell, I'd take $2.7 million and be ecstatic...
Re:Take the Money and Run by watercanhydrate · 2006-09-23 04:43 · Score: 1

I'd take 0.27 or even 0.027 million for that matter.

Jackpot by AnotherAnonymousUser · 2006-09-22 08:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

Chances like this are one in a million. You had a great idea and millions have enjoyed it. Take the money with some terms of autonomy and keep giving people the service they've come to expect. Worst case, just use even a fraction of the money to create a Facebook clone and have all of your users migrate.

Re:Jackpot by Quadraginta · 2006-09-22 09:26 · Score: 4, Insightful

Well...first of all, he's not going to get the whole 900 megabucks. He doesn't own the entire company, only a majority of its stock. The deal may not be strictly cash, too -- it may well involve quantities of Yahoo stock valued at their trading price on the day of the acquisition.

Secondly, the guy is already fairly rich. Going from being a millionaire to a half-billionaire (say) is nice in many ways, but it's going from riches to more riches, not rags to riches.

Third, one suspects he actually gets more out of the power and glory of running a successful company. It doesn't sound like his Main Goal is to have lots of money. It sounds like he enjoys more the constructive pleasures of building a massively successful venture. Who wouldn't? I mean, unless you're a total slacker, then being successful, admired, influential and seeing your ideas come to fruition exactly as you'd want them to is much more rewarding than the next million (once you already have a few million in the bank already).

What happens if he sells the company? Sure, he's got a lot of dough, but he's no longer in sole control of the company. He's working for Yahoo. He's got a boss. Not likely he's going to enjoy that very much.

He could take his big chunk o' change and his fame and go start another copmany. But no doubt the deal would include a non-compete clause, so it can't be the same type of company. Got to be a totally new venture. What are the odds lightning will strike twice? That the next "brilliant" idea he has about a company is going to work out as well? He's going to be worrying about that.

If he had run the company for 10 years already and had had all the fun there was to have in it, I think he'd sell. But he's only run it for a very short time. On the other hand, he also knows what the commenters here are saying, which is that this is probably his best golden opportunity. I'd say the guy's in a bit of a bind.
Re:Jackpot by inKubus · 2006-09-22 09:40 · Score: 2, Interesting

There's no bind. You take the 900M in stock or whatever, you sell it, you pay your taxes on the full amount, and you stick it in a 5% savings account and go buy an island somewhere. WhyTF would you not take $900M?! Power? Money IS power. How many users does he have now? 9 Million. He could start an ad campaign with a different, easy to make product (say a video on demand service), take 300million and basically pay 1 million college students $300 a piece to use the service, provided they bring in at least 5 new accounts in the next year. Then you charge $5 a month or $60 for a yearly subscription and you pocket all your money back in the first year. He thinks he's being smart by holding out for the best offer, but he's going to get screwed and lose it all. 12 months from now, when Facebook is dead and he's broke, we're going to see a headline of his suicide. If he doesn't take the deal, that is.

--
Cool! Amazing Toys.
Re:Jackpot by ronark · 2006-09-22 10:47 · Score: 1

Dude, I totally agree with everything you just said, but I'd still take the money. College loans are stacking up, car insurance blows in New Jersey, gas prices are still tough, food costs money, etc. For me, I'd sell at $1 million simply to get out of the debt I have. I definitely agree that money is not everything, but life is very hard without it.
Re:Jackpot by Quadraginta · 2006-09-22 10:48 · Score: 1

WhyTF would you not take $900M?! Power? Money IS power.

Alas, no. It's certainly the next best thing, and can often be turned into power with judicious and wise use, but money is not synonymous with power. Just ask, oh, say Martha Stewart or Ken Lay.

He could....[insert random business plan here]...

No doubt. But what makes you think your plan would work? For every 100,000 "brilliant" ideas to make a bazillion dollars that one can think up, you'd be unbelievably lucky to find even one that actually works out in the real world.

That's the problem. He knows that this idea works (so far, at least). He doesn't know if he has, or will ever have, another idea that will work. Yes it would be nice to have half a billion dollars. But it would be very sad to have the experience of working out your (only!) good idea begun and ended before you turn 25.
Re:Jackpot by Quadraginta · 2006-09-22 11:17 · Score: 1

Well...fair enough, but I'd probably trade places with you in a New York minute. Not worry about whether I've given the daughter the right kind of guidance as she begins high school. Be able to re-make the decision of who to marry and get it right this time. Be able to move anywhere I like, take any job I want, change the career in any direction I please, because it's just me (and maybe a young partner) and we could work 80-hour weeks and eat out of cans while I came up to speed. Not to mention be (I assume) about twenty years younger and not have my back hurt every God-damned morning when I get up, or need a separate pair of glasses to make out the print on the computer screen.

Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, huh? Sheesh. What a world.
Re:Jackpot by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 11:38 · Score: 0

Just a note, from a Wall Street Journal article yesterday, M. Zuckerberg's stake in the company is actually around 30%. That would give him $270 million.
Re:Jackpot by tehcyder · 2006-09-25 00:16 · Score: 1

It sounds like he enjoys more the constructive pleasures of building a massively successful venture. Who wouldn't? I mean, unless you're a total slacker, then being successful, admired, influential and seeing your ideas come to fruition exactly as you'd want them to is much more rewarding than the next million
Since when did "total slacker" become an insult?

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it

Social Networking.. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:40 · Score: 1, Funny

It's going to be hilarious when this latest fad gets old...

Jaysyn

Deal? by revlayle · 2006-09-22 08:41 · Score: 1

*OR* No Deal??

That's right, The Banker IS calling you a "sucka" right now!

Hmmm... by RichPowers · 2006-09-22 08:41 · Score: 4, Insightful

So Yahoo! wants to shell out $900 mill for a service that's fast becoming another MySpace? Instead of maintaining its brilliant niche market - appealing to college kids through closed registration - Facebook decides to open registration. I fail to see the wisdom of that decision; MySpace already exists for everyone else. Facebook was, in a way, the anti-MySpace, a cooler, less annoying networking site. Users were PO'd about recent additions like the news ticker...just wait until the flood gates open and every emo, pedophile, jerk, and jackass on the Web starts signing up. PS: Web 2.0 bubble burst rapidly approaching, captain.

Not bad... by cunina · 2006-09-22 08:44 · Score: 3, Interesting

... for an idea notorious scumbag Zuckerberg stole from his friends.

Re:Not bad... by davidu · 2006-09-22 09:36 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't know if what you say is true or not but it doesn't really matter (and sounds like someone has sour grapes).

But I'll tell you this:

Ideas aren't worth much if you can't execute on them.

-david

--

# Hack the planet, it's important.
Re:Not bad... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:46 · Score: 0

Ideas aren't worth much if you can't execute on them.

Major bumps. People should really grasp this before making statements like "oh it is easy to make a video upload site" Well maybe it is, but I don't see you out doing it.
Re:Not bad... by ThinkComp · 2006-09-22 09:49 · Score: 2, Informative

Well, one of those [former] friends of his has just launched this:

http://www.commonroom.com/

Take a look at the timeline under "I'm New."
Re:Not bad... by LilBlackDemon · 2006-09-22 13:03 · Score: 2, Interesting

Mr. Zuckerberg actually worked on a site that already existed (I believe it was called ConnectU.com). Zuckerberg was hired to redisgn the site. However, after the three month contract was up, ConnectU releaunched with a rather shaky design (the site would sometimes crash its servers the coding was so bad) and Facebook was launched, as Zuckerberg's own project, around the same time. The two contain many elements in common, but because Facebook was more stable and happened to hit at the right time and have the right publicity (and name, even) it became the smash hit it is today.

When it first happened, there was a bit of controversy as to if Facebook might even contain some ConnectU code. It was a sticky situation for a bit.

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freeflux-powered open-source blog
Re:Not bad... by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-23 02:12 · Score: 0

Oh, its true. He worked under me for all of 2 weeks and he was fired for basically doing nothing. I think all he ended up doing was taking the code we wrote in house and applying it to his site, as I've seen stylesheets and javascript on facebook that looks earily similar to the stuff I had worked on as well.

As for stealing the idea, from what I know he was paid to work on another similar site for three months from another group of students. During that time, he implemented the work and made the idea "his", leaving them 3 months behind and without anything to show for it.

Amusingly enough, the word ingrate showed up for my verification!

Go On! by djdavetrouble · 2006-09-22 08:44 · Score: 1

Take the money and RUN!

the "bubble" (and JCM) taught me that..

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music lover since 1969

Re:Go On! by fastgood · 2006-09-22 09:17 · Score: 1

As the original push technology web site, Pointcast finally sold for just $7 million, less than eighteen months after turning down very close to half a billion dollars from Rupert Murdoch.

The Year 2000 Is Calling by mpapet · 2006-09-22 08:45 · Score: 0, Redundant

and they want their dot-com bubble back.

Is the "value" here equivalent to television? Something to flush time down the toilet?

Please enlighten me.

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http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html

Re:The Year 2000 Is Calling by Sporkinum · 2006-09-22 09:12 · Score: 1

Exactly! What the hell is facebook, and why should anyone care? I never heard of it until some news story said it was being offered cubic dollars to sell.

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"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"

If Yahoo buys, it will fail by Capt'n+Hector · 2006-09-22 08:46 · Score: 4, Insightful

If Yahoo bought facebook and stuck the little Y! icon in the corner, I would leave. The whole reason us college students liked facebook in the first place was that was made by and for us, the college students. The only way for Yahoo to make back their money would be for them to sell the personal information (unless somehow the EULA prohibits it, which I hope is the case). If they do that, then we will revolt (see how well the "feed" feature went over, and that was information we already had), and facebook will be nothing more than a less neurotic version of myspace. Zukerberg, please don't sell. I LIKE facebook the way it is.

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Africus aut Europaeus?

Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by protohiro1 · 2006-09-22 09:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't think Yahoo would sell the personal information because that would be suicidal, for the reasons you said. Yahoo wants facebook to fight off myspace. I question the widsom of this purchase, but I doubt their will be a mass defection. If you like facebook, why would a Y! scare you off? Has everyone deserted Flickr? I think $1 billion is way too much to pay for facebook, but I find it unlikely that yahoo would ruin the service.

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Sig removed because it was obnoxious
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:30 · Score: 1, Insightful

It won't fail. At worst, the users will whine(that wasn't a revolt, that was a whine-fest); they're certainly not going to go through the effort to rebuild their social networks just because Facebook has gone commercial. This isn't the 60's, modern college students won't stick to their ideological beliefs through hard times.
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by kenneth_martens · 2006-09-22 09:52 · Score: 2, Informative

The whole reason us college students liked facebook in the first place was that was made by and for us, the college students.

Climb down off your high horse. I've been a college student, and I'm also currently working on a Master's degree. Students don't sign up for Facebook because it's a snobby exclusive club just for them. They sign up because 1) it works, 2) it isn't ugly like Myspace, and 3) it offers reasonable privacy protection. Nobody really cares who made it or who runs it.

Whether or not it's owned by Yahoo doesn't change anything. If Yahoo buys it and screws with the privacy settings (e.g., if they let everyone view your profile) then there will be a user revolt. But users won't revolt en masse just because Facebook is bought out by a *gasp* commercial company. As long as Facebook keeps working, ownership just isn't that big of a deal.
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by dancingyel · 2006-09-22 09:55 · Score: 1

they're certainly not going to go through the effort to rebuild their social networks just because Facebook has gone commercial.
And really, why should they? It's not like Facebook was some sort of idealistic, let's-be-counter-culture site. It was always a social networking site, albeit smaller and more specialized than others. I don't think it has a lot of things that will be ruined by it going commercial.
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by macx666 · 2006-09-22 11:41 · Score: 1

Wow. You should read the EULA. No, seriously. It isn't that painful. While they can not sell your personal information directly (as in, here is joe blow's last list of girlfriends), they can agrigate it and show advertisers x% of students enjoy watching football and drinking beer. This is normal, done in tons of other places, and doesn't hurt you one bit. Frankly I am shocked that Facebook (at least not that I could find) is not selling aggregate statistics. Various university marketing departments would pay a fortune for some kind of data mining ability.

In any event, get over yourself. If you didn't like the EULA (not reading it is not an excuse), then why in the hell did you agree to it?
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by tehcyder · 2006-09-25 00:23 · Score: 1

The whole reason us college students liked facebook in the first place was that was made by and for us, the college students
Why exactly does anyone care what website a bunch of students uses? I don't see how students are an advertiser's dream, as they're either poor or else in the same situation as others their age. In a couple of years time they'll either have jobs or be unemployed, either way they won't be students anymore.

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:If Yahoo buys, it will fail by tehcyder · 2006-09-25 00:31 · Score: 1

and show advertisers x% of students enjoy watching football and drinking beer
Where x=100.

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it

Dear Mark Zuckerberg.. by Vellmont · 2006-09-22 08:47 · Score: 2, Insightful

Your plan worked! You managed to create a fad website and idiots are willing to give you 900 frickin million dollars for it! Take the money before they realize that Facebook is just a passing fad like boy-bands! Don't over-play your hand. Even Yahoo and Viacom aren't dumb enough to give you anything like 2 billion dollars for it.

--
AccountKiller

Re:Dear Mark Zuckerberg.. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:16 · Score: 0

Only the out of touch people think that it will just be a fad. In fact it is getting worse every year

facebook isnt going anywhere

900 MILLION DOLLARS, PALO ALTO by mr_stinky_britches · 2006-09-22 08:50 · Score: 1, Insightful

Dear Mr. Zuckerberg,

Like you, I am from Palo Alto. I graduated from PALY. I think facebook is a pretty cool website (most of the time). However, I would strongly encourage you to take the money and run. Facebook is definately not worth that much money. Consumers are fickle, and most the users of facebook hate you anyways (perhaps because they are ignorant, but the fact remains..). Why bust your chops and lose $1BN for people who generally don't appreciate you nearly as much as they should?

Good luck,
Stinky

--
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.

Re:900 MILLION DOLLARS, PALO ALTO by merreborn · 2006-09-22 09:47 · Score: 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg

He's from the east coast. He just works in Palo Alto. Seems he, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes met at Harvard.

Had any of them attended Paly I believe they would have been class of '02. I was class of '01 at Paly. I'm pretty sure none of the three of 'em are in the yearbook.
Re:900 MILLION DOLLARS, PALO ALTO by mr_stinky_britches · 2006-09-22 10:30 · Score: 1

I didn't know that. Thanks for the correction (:

--
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.
Re:900 MILLION DOLLARS, PALO ALTO by mr_stinky_britches · 2006-09-22 12:22 · Score: 1

I graduated in `01 too. Hit me up dude, I wonder who y'are (email: outtatime^gmail) pz

--
Censorship is obscene. Patriotism is bigotry. Faith is a vice. Slashdot 2.0 sucks.

Wouldn't 900 million be enought to build by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:50 · Score: 0

a face book site from scratch. I guess dollars lose value when they accumulate.

Re:Wouldn't 900 million be enought to build by larry+bagina · 2006-09-22 09:18 · Score: 1

they're not buying the code and rackspace needed to host it, they're buying the users and brand name.

--
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
Re:Wouldn't 900 million be enought to build by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 13:34 · Score: 0

$900 million will buy you a pretty good advertising campaign, too.

how soon before by Cartack · 2006-09-22 08:55 · Score: 0

myspace and facebook become full featured portals... yahoo and google must be shaking in their boots.

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:57 · Score: 0

And populated by people who can't follow the TOS, apparently.

You're a Nazi by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 08:58 · Score: 0

You had it coming,
You had it coming,
You only had yourself to blame...

*hums*

Take the Money and Run by brouski · 2006-09-22 08:58 · Score: 1

was a Steve Miller Band song.

--
Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!

1999 called... by $RANDOMLUSER · 2006-09-22 08:59 · Score: 1, Insightful

They want their headline back

--
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:00 · Score: 1, Insightful

Wow, and you went to school? Nevertheless, I know your problem! You should log into myspace instead, you'll be more at home. You can say what you want, no matter how inappropriate and immature (considering facebook tries not to be so immature and inappropriate). I'm sure you can even put your text in huge glittery animated gif fonts!

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:01 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Hey, Taco! We need a mod selection for "-1 Jackass"!

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 09:09 · Score: 1, Informative

Seems to me like you got what you deserved, Bobby.

Sorry, I mean Robert Persinger.

Seems to me like you're basically a frat boy troll and FaceBook put you in your place.

There's no anonymity on the internet. Between knowing "spazntwich@yahoo.com" and "Robert" I tracked down your name & status at the school.

3rd year English major with Sophmore standing.
Way To Go Bert.

Nascent Dr. Evil? by R2.0 · 2006-09-22 09:13 · Score: 0

Did he pronounce it "beeelion" and have his pinky in his mouth?

--
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson

You may now kill yourself. by DysenteryInTheRanks · 2006-09-22 09:15 · Score: 4, Insightful

I like Gawker's take on this:

The 22-year-old founder of Facebook wants to sell for $1.5 billion, and the twit just might get away with it. You ready to kill yourself yet? Here, use our knife and be sure to cut vertically.

I think anyone with any modicum of programming skill has been repeatedly slapping their forehead over the last year at the money being made from some very basic PHP scripts and what SEEMED like really silly ideas.

Seriously -- if someone came to you a few years ago and was like, "Umm, ya, we're looking to take, like, Geocities, and mash it up with Blogger, and AOL Instant Messenger, except uglier than any of those things, and maybe graft on some awkward MP3.com type capabilities, and leverage the awesome power of ColdFusion, and we've registered an awesome domain name -- MYSPACE, get it, like My Space, like My Web Space ...", I mean -- really. Would you have been able to STOP laughing?

Or if someone was like, "ya, I envision this site where everyone at every college can just upload all their personal info, pictures, basically just like Blogger, except only other people at their college can see it, and they can like join clubs and stuff, and groups, like any group they want, and post pictures of themselves doing bong hits, put the whole thing on a PHP/MySQL ball..."

I'd be like, "ya, I don't see college kids posting pictures of themselves doing illegal things, first of all, dumbass. Secondly, why join an online group when you can join a REAL group, in real life, with live members of the opposite sex present? And thirdly, why should they use YOUR facebook when their college prolly has one of its own? Even if they did, why wouldn't they use Yahoo Groups and Blogger and AIM just like everyone else?"

Shows how much I know.

Ya, I could have built this stuff. I'm not even a CS major or programmer, but I know enough scripting (perl/ruby) and server admin I could have pulled it together. But I didn't! It never would have occured to me to make something so bloody simple and so minimally better than what is already out there.

Just goes to show, it's all about the users, and if you're not a user, if you're not in their shoes, it's really hard to anticipate what will be exciting to them.

Re:You may now kill yourself. by nb+caffeine · 2006-09-22 09:26 · Score: 1

yeah, f'in A man. I was in college when these sites all started gaining popularity. I had an idea a day, now they've all been done and sold for $500m+.

Even if this guy wants to be like jobs or something, take the fuckin money and run. 900 mil (even if he ends up with much less after taxes, etc) would be plenty to pick and choose funding of the Real Next Big Thing (Tm). But, thats just what I would do.

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"Something's wrong with you...and I hope we never do meet again." - Deftones When Girls Telephone Boys
Re:You may now kill yourself. by inKubus · 2006-09-22 09:34 · Score: 1

Try being in a band. It has nothing to do with the quality of the music or the songs. It's about getting people to listen. Likewise, social networking sites are sort of like the Amway of websites, because they make the users advertise (bring in new people) for them, in order to make the site more useful to the users. It's brilliant, but shaky. So, yes, ANYONE can start a social networking site, and some of them might be better, but you need people people people to make money money money.

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Cool! Amazing Toys.
Re:You may now kill yourself. by MP3Chuck · 2006-09-22 13:25 · Score: 2, Insightful

Thing is, anything sounds simple boiled down into one sentence. Slashdot is a "tech news aggregator" but it's one of the most popular sites on the internet. Same goes for Digg. deviantART is just an "online art community" but it's got 25 million submissions and a couple million members. The list goes on. Like some others said above, ideas are worthless without an execution. And even then, the quality of the execution makes all the difference.

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Who doesn't like free music?

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Spazntwich · 2006-09-22 09:18 · Score: 1

Ahahaha. Well done. I knew someone would take the initiative.

But your info is a little out of date, as I'm no longer an English major.

Flickr? by merreborn · 2006-09-22 09:39 · Score: 1

If Yahoo buys, it will fail

As far as I can tell, Flickr has boomed since Yahoo! came into the picture. If they can avoid trashing Flickr, maybe they can keep Facebook cool too, eh?

Why even bother buying by BionicPimp · 2006-09-22 09:41 · Score: 1

why don't they just make their own...or make yahoo mail a social network eg. just take all the yahoo mail accounts and create a yahoo "network" account for them. next time they log in, ask if they can send an invite to everyone in their address book. bickety bam. done. and pretty much "free" in that it won't cost them almost a billion dollars.

Because they've already tried - and failed by saddino · 2006-09-22 09:45 · Score: 1

Yahoo! already has their own social networking site: Yahoo! 360. But as the article states, 360 has failed to attract the kids, and so now their only option is to buy their way into an established userbase.

And you wonder where they got $900 mil to spend. by vertinox · 2006-09-22 09:47 · Score: 1

If you happen to have Yahoo stock.

SELL NOW!

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"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)

EULA Gonna screw you! by cinexero · 2006-09-22 10:36 · Score: 1

I would strongly reccomend reading the EULA, I did when I heard about it opening up. There is a nice phrase in there about "distributing your information to third parties without consent". Watch out.

Remember, the way facebook makes money is through its users, leave and all these issues will be resolved.

Let's Make A Deal! by qzulla · 2006-09-22 10:37 · Score: 1

Ok, contestant, do you want door number one, door number two or door number three?
I want... door number one... TWO! No, wait... oh Monty!
Your time is running out, contestant...
Ok, ok... door number THREE!!!!
Carol, show our contestant what she won...
Look! You have won... a donkey! Not just any donkey but a real live one from Pedros Farm in Mexico!!!
qz

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by revlayle · 2006-09-22 10:47 · Score: 1

you dropped out???

So, essentially... by Tarlus · 2006-09-22 10:59 · Score: 1

"Their current standing offer is $900 Million, with the deal including a degree of autonomy for the site and founder Mark Zuckerberg still in charge."

He could be paid a batshit fucking insane amount of money to continue to be in charge of Facebook, meaning that he'll still have a say in the direction that it goes. I am interested, however, in how Yahoo would change it if they bought it, and if they'd tie it to existing Yahoo user accounts or turn it into another MySpace.

I don't mind who owns Facebook, but if it turns into MySpace (where people can customize their page layout) then I'll quit using it. Having two songs and a movie file playing AT THE SAME TIME while having text that perfectly blends in with an excessively busy fixed background is something up with which I will not put.

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Re:So, essentially... by AmberBlackCat · 2006-09-22 19:45 · Score: 1

I don't like it either, but if it's the most popular site on the internet then there must be somebody who likes it. And I guarantee you there are people who have equally harsh comments about the layout and format of Slashdot. Just as you'd call their stuff bloated and busy, they might call your stuff dull and dead.

pointcast deja vu by maadmole · 2006-09-22 11:12 · Score: 2, Insightful

This is what Zuckerberg should be having nightmares about. http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_17/b3626167.ht m

Dont let this slip by google by Viper_Viper · 2006-09-22 11:21 · Score: 1

Sooo, why does google not just drop 2 really big ones for facebook. Google could easily incoperate everything together, mixing your blog with your notes and stuff like that. But it will never happen, I dont see google wanting facebook. Everyone please respond with why this is a bad idea.

Re:Dont let this slip by google by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 13:14 · Score: 0

Hahaha. Google could make something better than Facebook in a couple of months and it would only cost them a couple hundred grand, not $1.5bn.
Re:Dont let this slip by google by Bert690 · 2006-09-22 13:27 · Score: 1

Hahaha. Google could make something better than Facebook in a couple of months and it would only cost them a couple hundred grand, not $1.5bn.
Right, and it's called Orkut, currently used by just about everybody in Brazil.

What a waste of money by Mantrid+Drone · 2006-09-22 12:08 · Score: 1

What a horrible, horrible waste of money. Think of what you could build from scratch for $900M. Teenybopper internet users being as fickle as they are, they'll happily switch to the next flash-in-the-pan social networking site if it's better/flashier/trendier, and you could certainly one-up Fa(r)cebook with those kinds of dollars.

Re:What a waste of money by Anonymous Coward · 2006-09-22 23:02 · Score: 0

You miss the point. People pay for users, not for the technology, in aquisitions like this.

How do these people think? by Plutonite · 2006-09-22 12:10 · Score: 2, Funny

I dunno, I'm just confused. What's the difference between $900 million and $1500 million? Or $2000 million? Or 5000?

What goes on inside people's minds when they are debating this sort of shite?

[CEO Thought Bubble]: $1 Billion dollars means a baseball team, 2 small Islands and a nice fleet of cars and jets. Probably enough remaining in stocks for a comfortable living and the odd shopping spree.

[devil]But 2 billion...now we're really talking. Just think of the possibilities. More celebrities to screw, 3 times the number of cars possible. Maybe another Island off the Brazilian coast. Plus, 1 is a small number. Insecure, ya know. 2 is plain solid. Go for 2. 2 billion dollars man. 2 f*cking billion. [/devil]

[angel] If they say no you won't have much to screw, will ya cowboy. 1 billiondollars ought to be enough for anybody. IF you ask for more, you should and will go to hell[/angel]

[/CEO Thought Bubble]

CEO: Give me time to think, please. You can't rush this kind of decision.

So the "News Feeds" Were a Test Run... by L33tminion · 2006-09-22 13:04 · Score: 1

... to see how many customers actually leave when major changes piss them off. Since the answer is "almost none", they now know it's safe to sell the site to whoever without fear of the userbase jumping ship.

(Okay, so I don't actually believe that. But if I were more of a conspiracy theorist...)

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by FishWithAHammer · 2006-09-22 13:55 · Score: 1

Nah--something like political science was more his speed.

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"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."

Re:Facebook is run by nazis. by Spazntwich · 2006-09-22 19:14 · Score: 1

Still behind, but it sounds like you're on the right track.

Damn! That's a lot of money by vz3phyre · 2006-09-22 23:21 · Score: 1

Oh my GOD!!! He refuse to take it. If i am the owner, i will sell it for 899 mil. Its a deal man!! but no one want my websites :(

may be the my idea not original enough :(

Re: Your sig? by mpathetiq · 2006-09-25 06:55 · Score: 1

Why do you have NNintendo instead of just Nintendo?

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Post-rock/Ambient/Drone and other noise.

Re: Your sig? by geminidomino · 2006-09-25 10:25 · Score: 1

Fat fingered. Thanks for pointing it out.

Re: Your sig? by mpathetiq · 2006-09-26 00:59 · Score: 1

No problem. :)

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Post-rock/Ambient/Drone and other noise.

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Yahoo Tries to Woo Facebook With $900 Million

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