Are you going to buy stocks in Facebook?

[mordy44]

GRPN will bounce at some point with so many people needing to cover shorts.

Love that logic.....still waiting for the Lehman Brothers shorts to cover

[Ergel]

Love that logic.....still waiting for the Lehman Brothers shorts to cover

Love that logic, because one company went bankrupt that means all will?
Most companies that have sharp drops like grpn bounce

[mordy44]

It will  bounce or drop to the perceived value of the company. vizehu

[Ergel]

It will  bounce and then drop to the perceived value of the company. vizehu

FTFY

[smart brit]

How could u compare grpn and fb?
Fb has a business model although a hard one to make money but at least some type of business model. But grpn what's there business model? How long could they succeed?

[AsherO]

How could u compare grpn and fb?
Fb has a business model although a hard one to make money but at least some type of business model. But grpn what's there business model? How long could they succeed?

You didn't quote so I don't know who you're speaking to, but if it's me you're replying to, I totally agree with you.

[JEWDA]

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-thiel/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

[AsherO]

http://money.cnn.com/2012/08/20/technology/facebook-peter-thiel/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Seen it!

[Ergel]

turning his initial $500,000 investment into more than $1 billion in cash.

Wow

[AsherO]

Wow

That's venture capital for ya, but realize that he's invested similar amounts in lots of companies that he is yet to (and may never) see any return on...

Also, the it isn't $1bn, it's more like $400m...

ETA: Also, when he invested in FB, they weren't accepting venture funding from anyone, as I describe below, venture funding is more complicated than that, and investors offer intangibles besides for the cash they front. This book discusses a lot about what went on in FB's early days.

[bubbles]

Also, the it isn't $1bn, it's more like $400m...

the $400 million is only counting what he sold now, it's not counting the around $640 million he sold by the IPO

[ANONYMOUS]

That's venture capital for ya, but realize that he's invested similar amounts in lots of companies that he is yet to (and may never) see any return on...

Also, the it isn't $1bn, it's more like $400m...

Do you have a source or news article that says he put in "similar amounts in lots of companies that he is yet to (and may never) see any return on..."??

Thanks!

[Ergel]

That's venture capital for ya, but realize that he's invested similar amounts in lots of companies that he is yet to (and may never) see any return on...

Also, the it isn't $1bn, it's more like $400m...

Understood, but he could have invested in 1 million (literally, not an exaggeration) companies like that and still broken even

[myb821]

Understood, but he could have invested in 1 million (literally, not an exaggeration) companies like that and still broken even

ur math does not work

[Ergel]

ur math does not work

sorry 2,000, you are correct. really sloppy math on my part

[myb821]

2 million, you are correct

2,000,000*500,000=1,000,000,000,000 which is 1 trillion not billion

[AsherO]

Do you have a source or news article that says he put in "similar amounts in lots of companies that he is yet to (and may never) see any return on..."??

Thanks!

A partial list of his investments could be found here.

Understood, but he could have invested in 1 million (literally, not an exaggeration) companies like that and still broken even

Early rounds of funding for startups are much more complicated, typically there's a risk/reward tradeoff, where the earlier you invest the greater your risk but also the higher percentage you get of the pie. Since the owners (usually the founders) of a startup are giving away a significant portion of their company (not .000000001% like a small shareholder of a major corporation), they are very particular about how much investment they want to accept. One of their incentives in accepting seed/venture funding is that they get more than just a cash infusion, they also get other intangibles, like the reputation that so and so invested in them, networking/connections they get through the VC firms, and guidance/support they get from the VC firms.

[AJK]

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/10/reid-hoffman-on-investing-in-facebook-now-hes-waiting-for-the-lock-ups-to-pass/

Interesting to see Hoffman's take.

[AsherO]

And, now a nice interview video, first public Zuckerberg since the IPO, I'm wondering if the stock spike will hold...:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/11/zuckerberg-talk-drives-facebook-stock-up-4-6-in-after-hours-trading/
(scroll down for the video)

[mordy44]

Liking this spike, bought a little @ 17.80