TechCrunch reports that up-and-coming social networking site Bebo, which has caught MySpace in the UK, has declined a $550 million buyout offer. The post also reports on The Facebook turning down $1 billion.
Who knows what the truth is. But let’s assume these rumors are correct. The only thing the VCs behind these companies can be thinking is that they’re going public. These days that’s something of a long-shot, although more IPOs are happening now than a year ago.
But the stability and longevity (as Friendster proved by negative example) of these sites is far from clear. The undisputed king of social networking, MySpace, still is trying to entice advertisers onto the site (although resistance is starting to break down).
Shrewd management, business development and clear vision might make one or two of them long-term ad plays. But I might have taken the money.
To “Web2.0″ and “Bubble2.0,” we can now add “Greed2.0.”
July 11, 2006 at 6:57 pm |
[...] Finally, this news (MySpace being #1) will no doubt feed a kind of panic and frenzy and may drive more M&A around social media (see my earlier post re Greed2.0). [...]
July 11, 2006 at 7:32 pm |
Murdoch’s $500M for MySpace is known from business circles to blogs as a fatastic deal. While blogging this same story, I listed more than 10 potential buyers without even trying.
http://www.i-boy.com/weblog/2006/07/550-million-no-thanks-says-bebo.html
One thing is certain, hindsight will either make Birch and Maloney look like visionaries or fools.
~G~
July 11, 2006 at 10:06 pm |
Indeed.