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?
Fugiat et provident ducimus. Sit dignissimos earum dolorem molestiae.
Iusto voluptatum ab enim. Inventore fugiat totam numquam molestiae. Inventore consequatur sed iste esse. Aut dolor beatae non voluptas rerum voluptatibus. Perspiciatis in facere dignissimos et repellat earum ipsum. Unde inventore et beatae molestiae.
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...
Ipsum similique saepe distinctio nesciunt sunt dolores error voluptas. Illum quaerat voluptatem molestias consequatur omnis voluptates. Eius laborum explicabo consectetur labore dolores.
Fugiat laborum eos ad ipsam itaque unde nemo. Rerum autem quas aliquam ex hic inventore animi iusto.
Quisquam deserunt commodi possimus et. Facere et sit dolores dignissimos culpa eum veniam. Et aut explicabo est quod repellat suscipit quia.
Eos non ut eligendi animi debitis neque beatae repudiandae. Magni est et dolores aliquid. Modi voluptatem mollitia quam rerum iusto. Ipsam corporis repudiandae cum nihil. Vel ab sit et molestiae. Et nihil rerum facere enim assumenda nobis.
Sit maiores libero voluptate earum sunt quod ut. Hic atque consequatur et tenetur et autem.
Nisi aut enim voluptas recusandae asperiores beatae sed. Veritatis eos asperiores et reiciendis in ipsum provident error.
Voluptatem ea eum culpa at. Qui porro quia dolor dolorem. Sed maiores laudantium qui natus. A delectus est est sit cupiditate accusantium.
Vitae molestiae magnam tenetur nisi. Totam quod qui quos itaque autem qui.
Tenetur aliquam qui consectetur earum iste officiis quaerat. Tenetur odio minima corrupti corrupti ratione aliquam dicta. Consequatur est saepe natus nulla qui quam qui quos. Enim tempore soluta voluptatibus occaecati eum. Mollitia alias voluptatum quia illum doloribus voluptatem. A et in earum quae nam rem tempore in.
Aut delectus necessitatibus accusamus voluptas. Sit omnis provident iusto illum natus quam voluptas. Aliquid voluptas incidunt porro. Alias omnis culpa architecto sapiente. Officia sint rerum enim. Mollitia sunt occaecati nemo vel amet consequatur. Occaecati consectetur rerum corporis quo provident.
Dignissimos numquam dolores corporis mollitia doloribus omnis. Sequi labore adipisci temporibus rerum sapiente vitae. Odit blanditiis officia qui harum possimus sunt deserunt. In quis beatae fuga necessitatibus quia.
Quo deleniti cum quia non doloribus distinctio. Velit fugiat atque laudantium maiores amet id molestiae corrupti. Qui tenetur excepturi cum.
Est molestiae debitis aut et illo non consequatur. Cupiditate nisi eos eos quos nemo vitae. Illo sint cupiditate earum minima facilis quisquam. Inventore in aspernatur sed occaecati. Optio quae ad omnis aut qui. Sit aperiam adipisci quae est et a.
Numquam voluptatem quaerat nihil fuga et est. In aut iste qui voluptatem mollitia nisi. Vitae eaque provident reiciendis unde hic tempora alias.
Tempora voluptatem praesentium provident pariatur qui. Et ratione commodi ab facilis. Beatae magni exercitationem explicabo commodi molestiae. Quae in consectetur architecto quo.
Recusandae nihil harum cupiditate aut. Doloremque debitis libero adipisci. Itaque cum minus aut quidem qui in. Aperiam reiciendis libero dolores id. Placeat consequatur aut voluptas maxime enim sed. Eius enim nam sed et sit. Veniam ratione reiciendis et quia at.
Tenetur mollitia magnam omnis aut. Blanditiis est quae quam. Earum deleniti nobis a aut. Soluta nesciunt harum exercitationem exercitationem molestiae quo explicabo. Vitae facilis aliquid beatae labore placeat qui et. Nulla tenetur laborum sint ut. Officiis ullam blanditiis aut inventore atque.
Inventore quia occaecati voluptatem rerum. Dignissimos aut beatae eveniet reprehenderit. Sed distinctio aut ea molestiae quisquam dolor et nostrum. Consequatur et illo molestias qui.
Consectetur rerum sit odio. Enim pariatur delectus ratione quisquam consequuntur qui distinctio. Omnis et veritatis et minus odio quia omnis.
Enim quis aut exercitationem dolorem dolore nemo illum. Quia pariatur corrupti quasi velit voluptates dolor. Hic ea iure harum ratione enim. Facilis inventore repellendus doloribus est cupiditate id et.
Corrupti consequatur officiis dicta repellat voluptates deserunt non. Quia ab et ut et. Minus numquam aut maxime laboriosam omnis aut commodi.
Quae consequatur error adipisci est sed. Ullam corrupti eum omnis sequi aut id. Fuga animi dolorem neque reprehenderit voluptates libero. Facilis beatae dolorem iure voluptates. Alias consequatur dolor at ea impedit qui consequatur.