Facebook is now worth $50 bln… Question: Why when there is so much cheap capital out there looking for a home…
Written by duckrabbit… do the great and the good or the “institution of photography” have to ask for donations from the public and/or foundations?
The investment community are hardly shy in backing an opportunity so why has there not been fresh capital coming into photojournalism?
Look at the rate curve everywhere, the amount of investment capital available, the amount of people looking to put funds to work when orthadox opportunities are maturing and showing signs of being hugely overbought (Equities, Government Bonds, Commodities, etc, etc)?
Is that because they never are able to answer the question of what they are offering to the public that is of real value to them?
It is not a very sexy question for the photography community but surely it is the right one for 2011?
Author — duckrabbit
duckrabbit is a production company formed by radio producer/journalist Benjamin Chesterton and photographer David White. We specialize in digital storytelling.
Discussion (2 Comments)
Hi Iam,
It could also be a social media bubble we’re looking at. Is there an explanation for that value somewhere? I mean, is it intrinsic, based on profitability? Or based on expectancy? To be honest, I haven’t studied it. The possibility of a social media bubble was raised by somebody I know recently. What are your thoughts?
d
Research firm eMarketer estimated that Facebook generated $1.29 billion in online ad revenue in 2010 and will rake in $1.76 billion in 2011.
It has 500 million users more than half logging on every day. It’s market gets bigger every day a new computer is bought by a family in the world where Facebook is allowed.
The multiple is high but most people would agree that it’s ability to mutate to deliver more coupled with social trends make them worth backing… This keeps a young CEO out of public scrutiny but have some of the greatest minds assisting it’s evolution.
Change or die they say. They have got the courage to invite others in the party, take their investment and use it to drive forward and constantly innovate. That is a good model to have in my book and every agency/photo platform should be thinking that way… Outside the frame?