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Lou Paglia
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1 year ago
in Twitter finally gets its new round of funding led by Sabet and Bezos on VentureBeat
Love twitter but $400M valuation (even on comps) seems way too high. I wonder if their stability issues had any effects on a downward draft for valuation than they would have otherwise seen if they weren't suffering from those issues? If they got pegged at $400M valuation, it would seem not.
Another note on that rumor, weren't they pegged at a $78M valuation after their $15M round with USV? I remember reading that somewhere as well.
Another note on that rumor, weren't they pegged at a $78M valuation after their $15M round with USV? I remember reading that somewhere as well.
1 reply
MG Siegler
Agreed Lou, $400 million is way too high. Yes, the last rumors of the $15M round put valuation at $60M-$75M from what I understand.
1 year ago
in The Social Graph In The Second Inning on A VC
Interesting concept of knitting the social graphs together. No shock it hasn't been done yet since we are creating the tendrils of the graph at a torrid pace with FB, blackberries, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, etc. Services are getting created faster than anyone could create social graph synergies between them. But here is my two cents:
- Let's trying getting a unified structure or hava a service come out than can knit my profile in one place in an effective way.
- Second point is regarding reward. Will there be a financial incentive to be the company that can knit the social graph together. How would it monetize. Plaxo, as an example, has really created an effective way for me to maintain updates on people within my social graphs contact information. But, they are now considered the also ran and the reward does not seem imminent.
- Let's trying getting a unified structure or hava a service come out than can knit my profile in one place in an effective way.
- Second point is regarding reward. Will there be a financial incentive to be the company that can knit the social graph together. How would it monetize. Plaxo, as an example, has really created an effective way for me to maintain updates on people within my social graphs contact information. But, they are now considered the also ran and the reward does not seem imminent.
1 reply
Dan Cornish
I think I will play the part of the bomb thrower. I disagree that Face Book will be the big winner here because of its origins. It is a tool designed to make a social graph of people in college. All of this other functionality is bolted on. I would argue that where real money is in the grown up world of enterprise social graphs. My friends are important, but generally, they do not make me money. The people I know in business are what is most important to me. There are two different kinds of social graphs in the business world. Defined and undefined. A defined social graph is the list of everyone in the industry, sort of like a private club. For example, to pitch Fred, it is far better to be introduced by someone who is already in his industry that he knows and trusts or a VC firm that is "known." So even though he might not know a particular person at a reputable VC, he would more than likely take a meeting with the referral since a member of "the club" referred him. Where does this private social graph live? It lives inside the firewall. The other social graph is people who might be able to do business, but are not part of the club. This is where Face Book, Linked in and others come in. Fred wants to develop business with people who are not in "the club." This is why his Blog is so successful. This is the primary way he generates leads. So the undefined social graph is the marketing/advertising side of the business, where the defined social graph is the "operations" side of the business.
In my opinion, the "defined" social graph is where the larger value lies, and is why it is so hard to build.
If I were to steal a contact list from Fred, which would be more valuable? His Outlook/Blackberry list or his friends on Face Book? Sure there is overlap, but there are many businesses which make a LOT of money getting the kinds of information and leads which resides privately on his BlackBerry. A question for Fred, would you publish Union Square's contact list publicly on your website? I surely would not, since my contact list is one of the most valuable things I own. I do not want my competitors to know who I know. That is very different than the model on Facebook, where I can show publicly who I know. And yes I know you can keep contacts private, but if you compare the two lists, one will be far more valuable. And then do not get me started about the idea that a Company asset like a contact list is controlled by administrators and the like.
I will argue that Facebook, much like Six Degrees before it are just the warm up game to where real value lies locked away. In industries where firms collaborate, the "private" social graph is what I want to use to steal clients from my competitors, recruit employees, find better vendors, find good consultants and the like. This information will never live on an undefined social network since the same information is invaluable to my competitors. But, the people
I have a lot more to say on this, especially how to get paid, since this is the very problem I have devoted 10 years of my life to solve. But I only want to share the rest with a few people on my "defined" social graph. How do you get on my "defined" social graph? By being part of another "defined" social graph I trust.
In my opinion, the "defined" social graph is where the larger value lies, and is why it is so hard to build.
If I were to steal a contact list from Fred, which would be more valuable? His Outlook/Blackberry list or his friends on Face Book? Sure there is overlap, but there are many businesses which make a LOT of money getting the kinds of information and leads which resides privately on his BlackBerry. A question for Fred, would you publish Union Square's contact list publicly on your website? I surely would not, since my contact list is one of the most valuable things I own. I do not want my competitors to know who I know. That is very different than the model on Facebook, where I can show publicly who I know. And yes I know you can keep contacts private, but if you compare the two lists, one will be far more valuable. And then do not get me started about the idea that a Company asset like a contact list is controlled by administrators and the like.
I will argue that Facebook, much like Six Degrees before it are just the warm up game to where real value lies locked away. In industries where firms collaborate, the "private" social graph is what I want to use to steal clients from my competitors, recruit employees, find better vendors, find good consultants and the like. This information will never live on an undefined social network since the same information is invaluable to my competitors. But, the people
I have a lot more to say on this, especially how to get paid, since this is the very problem I have devoted 10 years of my life to solve. But I only want to share the rest with a few people on my "defined" social graph. How do you get on my "defined" social graph? By being part of another "defined" social graph I trust.
