Comments on: Did Flickr Sell Too Early? http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/ Insight and Analysis from North of the Border Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:13:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: Le Dépanneur http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/comment-page-1/#comment-5353 Le Dépanneur Wed, 09 May 2007 09:20:30 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/#comment-5353 The European Audiovisual Observatory has just released an study showing that Europe enjoys of over 150 VoD Channels. 47 of them are IPTV. http://le-depanneur.blogspot.com/2007/05/over-150-vod-services-in-europe-47-iptv.html The European Audiovisual Observatory has just released an study showing that Europe enjoys of over 150 VoD Channels. 47 of them are IPTV.

http://le-depanneur.blogspot.com/2007/05/over-150-vod-services-in-europe-47-iptv.html

]]> By: Aidan Henry http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/comment-page-1/#comment-5348 Aidan Henry Tue, 08 May 2007 19:31:00 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/#comment-5348 Hey Mark, Great post. I've pondered this situation many times as well. I truly believe that Flickr should have waited a bit longer before selling. Their offering was much superior to others out there at the time. Their loyal user base and ability to actually charge for a service were their main distinguishing points. Both create a compelling value proposition for any potential suitor. As for Facebook, Zuckerberg made a smart, calculated gamble that has definitely paid off. Facebook's user base and retention levels are constantly increasing. Cheers, Aidan PS. I think you may have a typo in there... "he may be might" should be "he may be right" I believe. Hey Mark,

Great post. I’ve pondered this situation many times as well. I truly believe that Flickr should have waited a bit longer before selling. Their offering was much superior to others out there at the time. Their loyal user base and ability to actually charge for a service were their main distinguishing points. Both create a compelling value proposition for any potential suitor.

As for Facebook, Zuckerberg made a smart, calculated gamble that has definitely paid off. Facebook’s user base and retention levels are constantly increasing.

Cheers,
Aidan

PS. I think you may have a typo in there… “he may be might” should be “he may be right” I believe.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/comment-page-1/#comment-5347 Anonymous Tue, 08 May 2007 16:54:34 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/#comment-5347 I'm not sure its correct to say that flickr was started without venture capital Dick Hardt is well known to have angel-invested in flickr, and presumably he didn't do it for zero equity in the company. From the horses mouth @ http://blame.ca/dick/?p=48 I’m not sure its correct to say that flickr was started without venture capital

Dick Hardt is well known to have angel-invested in flickr, and presumably he didn’t do it for zero equity in the company.

From the horses mouth @ http://blame.ca/dick/?p=48

]]> By: AndrewK http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/comment-page-1/#comment-5346 AndrewK Tue, 08 May 2007 15:05:35 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/05/08/did-flickr-sell-too-early/#comment-5346 A company is worth ... whatever you can get for it. Yahoo!Photo was likely part of the why Yahoo! offered less in the negotiations. Sure they killed it now but that is only because of the Flickr aquisition. The service was new but but established on a shoestring. Photobucket was established months before them and rode that first mover status for all it was worth. While one can argue wether they could have got more, it ignores the realities of the sale. The investors thought it was good enough then and there were doubts about sustaining it without capital. From the Inc Interview: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20061201/hidi-butterfield-fake.html Fake: There are all these factors that went into the decision to sell. One of the first investors was Stewart's friend. He was extremely ill, and he stood to make a lot of money if we sold the company. Butterfield: You never know when an Asian currency crisis is going to happen or 9/11 again or the market tanks or whatever. So we definitely believed that Flickr had a lot of potential life, but at the same time, it was a great result for all the people who had agreed to invest and who trusted us. We shouldn't have sold when we did, but you don't know that until after the fact. And it's not like we have some tragic life story. We're on the cover of Time magazine and the cover of Newsweek. Reid Hoffman [an early investor in Flickr] said, "You can always do it again. And the amount of money that you'll make on this will change your life in a way that…" Fake: "…you'll be able to be entrepreneurs the rest of your lives." As for the Facebook comment. Could be he's a man of his convictions who hasn't got the right terms. Greedy. Just wants to keep captaining his ship even if it means it may run into the reef. With a site like Facebook can you blame him? A company is worth … whatever you can get for it. Yahoo!Photo was likely part of the why Yahoo! offered less in the negotiations. Sure they killed it now but that is only because of the Flickr aquisition. The service was new but but established on a shoestring. Photobucket was established months before them and rode that first mover status for all it was worth.

While one can argue wether they could have got more, it ignores the realities of the sale. The investors thought it was good enough then and there were doubts about sustaining it without capital.

From the Inc Interview:
http://www.inc.com/magazine/20061201/hidi-butterfield-fake.html
Fake: There are all these factors that went into the decision to sell. One of the first investors was Stewart’s friend. He was extremely ill, and he stood to make a lot of money if we sold the company.

Butterfield: You never know when an Asian currency crisis is going to happen or 9/11 again or the market tanks or whatever. So we definitely believed that Flickr had a lot of potential life, but at the same time, it was a great result for all the people who had agreed to invest and who trusted us. We shouldn’t have sold when we did, but you don’t know that until after the fact. And it’s not like we have some tragic life story. We’re on the cover of Time magazine and the cover of Newsweek. Reid Hoffman [an early investor in Flickr] said, “You can always do it again. And the amount of money that you’ll make on this will change your life in a way that…”

Fake: “…you’ll be able to be entrepreneurs the rest of your lives.”

As for the Facebook comment. Could be he’s a man of his convictions who hasn’t got the right terms. Greedy. Just wants to keep captaining his ship even if it means it may run into the reef. With a site like Facebook can you blame him?

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