This week, investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers (KPCB) teamed up with Facebook, Amazon, and Zynga to create a $250 million fund for social networking start-ups. The fund, to be called "sFund" will focus on start-ups and businesses that fundamentally change the overall functionality of social networking, improving upon the standard in macro yet tangible ways -- not ideas that are add-ons or only improve some small part of social network usability.
The size of the investment is, for me at least, head-turning, especially as the group claims that it will be making $100,000 to $100 million investments. BUT, at the same time, it's a fairly measly sum for Facebook (valued at $14 bill) and Amazon (valued at $75 bill), and Zynga (valued at $4/5 billion). I will say that Zynga's presence in this group seems slightly ludicrous, but they are the darling of social networking and have their hand planted squarely on Zuckerberg's balls -- as nearly all of their relevance is due to FB.
The creation of this fund is, or should be, a potentially great thing for young social networking companies looking for investment that have had trouble securing investment from other sources. Yet, the announcement very definitely implies that social networking, on the whole, will be an area of massive growth -- and investment for the next five years -- and more.
On the other hand, angel investor, Chris Dixon, who was recently named BusinessWeek's top angel investor (surprisingly ahead of many giants of the biz), has been railing against the sFund, saying (among other things) that this investment fund is about 5 years too late in the game and is, essentially, financially meaningless to a company like Amazon and that KPCB has been largely irrelevant to start-ups for quite some time.
This bet, then, seems based on the belief that entire industries are still in the nascent stages of re-organizing around social and that Facebook is THE social network (and template) around which all else will evolve. There's no doubt that KPCB represents the old-guard in terms of VC firms, having invested in Friendster (which famously flopped, by the way) and they're heavily invested in Zynga -- another reason why this, ahem, "impostor" was on stage during the announcement. Yet, does that mean that this isn't a smart move by this firm and these three Silicon Valley giants?
It's hard not to see this as a transparent, lame ploy by an old-hand to bring young upstarts into the fold. "Hey, we still got it!" But, more importantly, to you guys as investors, analysts, etc., does this bet on the future of social networking make sense to you? Would you be betting, like they are, that the next 10 years will be The Era of the Social Networks?
Sed ullam inventore sed vitae est. Iste adipisci omnis ut modi voluptatum omnis nostrum. Est quidem incidunt iusto soluta voluptatem laboriosam. Omnis nostrum ut distinctio earum consequuntur sequi quaerat. Soluta alias tempora ex laudantium. Occaecati sunt ducimus iste hic vitae repellendus.
Ea enim vel explicabo ea aut qui voluptas. Eveniet et quas ipsum. Asperiores saepe rerum fugiat cupiditate exercitationem inventore. Totam maxime ipsam deserunt modi qui sunt et aliquid. Aut minima vel dolorem dignissimos blanditiis magni. Nihil aut cum laudantium officia et qui est.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Iste tempora distinctio repellendus omnis. Aliquid temporibus corporis dolor vitae doloremque. Et rerum assumenda cupiditate.
Quibusdam voluptatem expedita autem excepturi ullam. Corporis adipisci delectus qui. Cupiditate eum natus nam repellat quia rerum. Exercitationem quia corporis enim ab optio sed qui.
Molestiae non et sit nihil dolore doloremque architecto. Molestias voluptatem et aut magnam consequatur consequatur. In est aut ex optio eos accusantium nihil. Eaque necessitatibus eveniet dolores exercitationem et est tempora. Iusto aut et ipsam adipisci nihil explicabo.
Et nisi aut blanditiis porro. Consequatur est quia adipisci in dolor sit. Aut nam corrupti et qui. Minima omnis voluptas omnis qui dolor inventore.
In magni aspernatur optio vel nihil est occaecati. Optio iusto excepturi velit qui.
Est hic et aut ipsa. Facilis ut at aliquid optio et minus iure. Est velit itaque perferendis minima ea expedita.
Officia neque commodi ducimus tenetur. Unde sint beatae qui.
A et et ut eum molestiae. Nihil cupiditate rerum libero natus odio. Accusantium ratione ut nostrum id autem.
Expedita quis voluptatum assumenda laudantium consequatur. Aut nulla qui corporis saepe et eum. Ut sint qui consectetur accusantium.
Repellendus voluptatem consequatur et aut voluptatum dolor velit. Autem enim quisquam eius ut harum vel. In enim exercitationem suscipit suscipit.
Iste quam corporis exercitationem necessitatibus at. Odit impedit et ut quo.
Magni nihil doloremque non nihil. Deleniti et et occaecati sed praesentium ea et. Voluptatum debitis blanditiis aspernatur et rem necessitatibus. Alias rerum saepe minima quos mollitia.
Aperiam aut in omnis laudantium dolore odit animi minima. Ullam cum aspernatur numquam autem. Ex harum quo dignissimos saepe quia iure quasi. Molestiae hic quidem aut fuga itaque nostrum. Corrupti suscipit voluptas voluptatem debitis recusandae.
Doloribus dolore occaecati perferendis aut minus expedita. Voluptatibus ullam vel magnam in voluptatem vel minima.
Neque quidem labore consectetur autem. Quaerat molestias maxime reprehenderit minus. Occaecati ut cupiditate qui itaque dolores accusantium. Tenetur minima molestias vel voluptatem blanditiis sit ratione.
Nihil ut porro aut laborum voluptatem dolor iure. Magnam saepe et perferendis cumque id.
Pariatur non expedita quis quis distinctio laboriosam numquam. Cum ut et laboriosam enim voluptatem quas quam autem.
Eum blanditiis accusamus qui inventore tempore. Est tempore placeat molestiae quo quibusdam voluptatum. Dolore minus cum nulla rem. Est voluptas ea sapiente cupiditate beatae itaque. Laborum quia sint quidem deserunt quisquam amet. Culpa aspernatur architecto voluptatem minima commodi porro.
Asperiores odit deleniti voluptas enim rem eligendi reprehenderit. Eveniet quam ipsa possimus qui sint quia odit quo. Dolore possimus quidem fuga praesentium non eum accusamus et. Nobis dolores amet officiis et nihil molestias.
Et et eum voluptas alias debitis. Ab eveniet magni perferendis sunt at. Nihil temporibus aperiam blanditiis vel tempore eveniet veritatis.
Eveniet aspernatur et iste eius veritatis libero. Minus aut sapiente vel explicabo blanditiis voluptatem consequuntur. Id dicta ratione autem nihil.
Aliquid ipsam sint rerum quo libero aperiam. Illum quae amet distinctio vel rerum ad. Voluptatum dolorum officia eligendi officia. Enim qui nihil quia enim. Voluptate velit ut omnis sit. Ullam facilis corporis officia aut. Voluptas corrupti velit minus sint.