From Deseret News archives:
Entrepreneurs grapple with building or selling
Facebook.com owner has turned down takeovers
But the 22-year-old founder of the Internet's second largest social-networking site also could turn into the next poster boy for missed opportunities if he waits too long to cash in on Facebook Inc., which is expected to generate revenue of more than $100 million this year. The bright outlook is one reason Zuckerberg felt justified spurning several takeover bids last year, including a $1 billion offer from Yahoo Inc.
"We clearly have a bias toward building than selling," Zuckerberg said in a recent interview. "We think there is a lot more to unlock here."
The build-or-sell dilemma facing Zuckerberg is becoming more common among the precocious entrepreneurs immersed in the latest Internet craze, a communal concept of content-sharing that has been dubbed "Web 2.0."
Besides Facebook, other Web 2.0 startups frequently mentioned as prime takeover targets include online video site Metacafe Inc. and Photobucket Inc., which has emerged as one of the Internet's busiest destinations by hosting personal videos and photos that are routinely linked to top social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook.
Web 2.0 startups have emerged as hot commodities because they are drawing more people away from television, newspapers and other media traditionally used for advertising. Online video channels and social networks, a catchall phrase attached to sites that enable people with common interests to connect and deepen their bonds, are particularly hot.
Deep-pocketed companies are now angling for a piece of the Web 2.0 action a quest that already has yielded a couple big jackpots, helping to propel the sales prices of startups to their highest levels since the dot-com boom.
News Corp. paid $580 million in 2005 to buy MySpace, the largest social-networking site, and Google Inc. snapped up video-sharing pioneer YouTube Inc. for $1.76 billion late last year.
"I'm surprised a lot more companies haven't already been bought," said Reid Hoffman, a veteran Silicon Valley executive who has invested in many startups, including Facebook. "My hunch is the deals are only going to get more expensive in 2008 and 2009."
Comments
- Should districts pay union reps? 7:12 p.m.
- I-80 reconstruction finally done 6:55 p.m.
- Child porn case nets fed sentence 6:44 p.m.
- Groups celebrate Dobbs' CNN exit 6:43 p.m.
- H1N1 slightly down in Utah 6:40 p.m.
- Retirement fund still seeking money 6:39 p.m.
- Judge to send message in mink case 6:37 p.m.
- Man arrested in armed robbery 6:35 p.m.
- Smoking up nationally, down in Utah 5:36 p.m.
- 4A: Springville holds off Dixie 5:28 p.m.
- House passes health care bill
333 - SLC council OKs gay rights policies
316 - TCU showdown has big implications
195 - Senators want food tax restored
158 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
155 - Will state consider gay rights law?
137 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
134 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
119 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
118
Maybe someone out there can help me understand how raising the state...
Props to Juan Diego Defense stopping Wasatch. Wasatch is good offensively,...
that doctors have less cases to report because they're saying "don't come?" ...
We need more edible animals in this world. PETA needs to realize that there...
@Knock Knock who's there? the cult which cult? The cowardly one...
I AGREE WIN WIN FOR THE UTES BUT IF IT COMES TO LOOSING WITCH I HOPE IT DOSE...
Well, lets pick this up again tomorrow. And then we'll do it again the next...
THIS IS THE YEAR OF THE TWIN TOWERS. UTAH'S DEFENSIVE MONSTER! AND CARLON'S...
Dixie and all the other 4A schools down south get to play against a bunch of...
disprove the claim above prove they are taken out of context, oh thats right...
Suggestion: put WHATEVER SYSTEMS ARE NECESSARY in place to deport illegals,...



You can be the first to comment on this story.