It’s like 1999 all over again. On Monday, Facebook announced it was buying photo-sharing company Instagram for US$1bn, netting the start-up’s cofounder, Kevin Systrom, a cool $400m. It’s paying over the odds, but the deal makes sense for Facebook ahead of its flotation on the stock market. At first glance and based on the
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A lot of people are scratching their heads this week at the news that Facebook is acquiring photo-sharing site Instagram for US$1bn. The allure of retro-styled photo filters is pretty weak justification for a price tag that high. But of course it’s not about the photo filters, it’s about the fact that Instagram engages your
Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom netted US$400m for selling his two-year-old startup to Facebook for $1bn. That’s according to a report by Wired, which cites sources indicating that Systrom holds 40% of the company he founded — an impressively large chunk for any entrepreneur at the time of exit, let alone one on his first company
The world’s largest social network has snatched up the Internet’s most buzzed about mobile app for photo-sharing for US$1bn, and the question on everyone’s mind is: why? The answer is obvious — it’s all about the photos — and it has been hidden in plain sight for weeks. On Monday, Facebook announced that it would acquire
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced Facebook is acquiring Instagram in a deal worth US$1bn. The photo-sharing start-up recently passed 30m members. Particularly since picking up a slew of new users with its Android app launch, Instagram has become one of the most important for taking and sharing photos on mobile devices, so it makes perfect sense that Facebook would want the
Remember five or six years ago when everyone thought they could start their own social network? Then Facebook arrived and effectively crushed everyone else in the market. There was no point anymore — it owned the market. But while the bean
On Monday, Alan Knott-Craig will move into his new office at 150 Rivonia Road. Expectations among industry players and consumers alike about his looming tenure at the helm of Cell C are running high. Can the man who built Vodacom turn the smaller operator
Facebook‘s counsel asked courts to dismiss a case against founder Mark Zuckerberg on Monday, involving plaintiff Paul Ceglia, who claims…
When you can’t beat them, sue them. That seems to be the modus operandi of Yahoo, a former Web star whose fondness for lawyers has grown as its commercial fortunes have faded. On 12 March, the ailing company sued Facebook, alleging that the social networking giant had violated 10 patents that belong to it. Yahoo’s aggressive move has sparked
The average Google+ user only spends an average of three minutes a month on the social network, while MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter are all seeing more time spent per user each month, according to research firm comScore. In a scathing Wall Street Journal report titled “The Mounting Minuses at Google+”, the case