I think the apps that are going to be worth the most are the concepts facebook wouldn't see worth putting in every member's profile. Especially if it would "taint" their image.
Adam Ostrow
· 2 years ago
yea, stuff that is at Facebook's "core" like messaging and commenting apps are too obvious. Apps that are complimentary to Facebook like music and games have much better long-term prospects imho.
Doug Mehus
· 2 years ago
$10 million for a Facebook app? Yeah, right. RockYou itself would be lucky to grab $10 million in a sale. That CEO is full of himself. :)
Cheers, Doug
Adam Ostrow
· 2 years ago
Yea, it's pretty ridiculous. Also see my post mentioning the comments of iLike's CEO who says he thinks his company might be the next MTV. Looks like late 90s hubris might be making a return ...
Zach
· 2 years ago
Uh... $10 million bucks for an app that facebook can/will build on their own now that they've allowed development to test the viability of the feature? RockYou, see Adonomics... while not entirely accurate, they're probably a lot closer to proper estimate. I'd like to meet the CEO of RockYou... I could use a good comedy hour.
Andrew J
· 2 years ago
I think it is a great move by the RockYou CEO to claim SuperWall is worth $10 million; it sets a precedent for any real future acquisition talks.
Even if the $10 Million figure sounds completely outrageous to a potential acquirer, it will be used as a reference point in negotiations.
The number is now set in their subconscious.
Cameron Chapman
· 2 years ago
Totally agree. Half of negotiating any kind of deal is perceived value. Both the perceived value by the public/users, and perceived value by the people looking to acquire the product/app.
Of course, I have to agree with other comments that they'd be idiots not to take a $10M offer, but it doesn't mean they can't try to artificially increase their value by changing people's perceptions.
John Scrofano
· 2 years ago
“…it seems like only a matter of time before Facebook builds the same functionality and crushes these company’s hopes of monetizing their applications.â€
I recently had a conversation with a director level person at Facebook about this very thing (not the SuperWall in particular, but about third party app development and the ability for Facebook to not just duplicate, but build a better mouse-trap and squash these types of applications). The gist of the conversation was this guy telling me that Facebook is not in the business of duplicating 3rd party apps – they truly consider themselves platform developers. Furthermore, Facebook would only consider duplicating a third party app if it enhanced the entire platform. For example, Facebook offers the ability to submit pictures from a cameraphone to a user profile. There are third parties that offer this functionality on the Facebook platform already (my company will offer this soon too, in combination with other features). But this particular feature is offered by Facebook directly because it enhances the photo galleries for the entire platform, allowing all Facebook and third party developers to access the cameraphone pictures. If this remained a stand-alone third party application, cameraphone photos would exist in the silo of a third-party service.
I am not purporting to take this all at face value, but thought relaying the conversation was valuable.
Adam Ostrow
· 2 years ago
Thanks for sharing. In my opinion, the director you talked to sounds eerily similar to preaching Google's "don't be evil" mantra, which carried them on the PR side of things for a very long time until people started realizing that they are just like most other corporations.
Once Facebook is a public company (or owned by one) the pressure will be on to monetize to the max, and "building a better mouse trap" is one of the most obvious and easiest ways to do it.
Facebook Fanboy
· 2 years ago
I'm a Facebook Fanboy and I think all the apps developed for Facebook are worth at least $10M! (you saw the "I am Hungry" app sold for $20K? It's worth at least ten times that amount!).
phenom
· 2 years ago
If facebook claims to be worth $15B, then these apps are definitely worth $10M each. http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
Adam Hirsch
· 2 years ago
haha, Facebook Fanboy is hysterical.
John thanks for the info, that sounds like a great conversation you had. Either way, I'm goign to have to disagree with the ever commenting phenom. The platform is what makes the company not the individual side apps. By your logic I could create my own app that says, "Hi I'm Adam Hirsch" and that would be worth $10 million? If so, I'm down for making that app work.
Anyway, Andrew has the best point, these guys are all about setting precedent. However, I really doubt that companies are out there on the hunt for Facebook Apps with that much cash. However, the precendent has been set, so I'm excited to see what happens...
All Comments
Cheers,
Doug
Even if the $10 Million figure sounds completely outrageous to a potential acquirer, it will be used as a reference point in negotiations.
The number is now set in their subconscious.
Of course, I have to agree with other comments that they'd be idiots not to take a $10M offer, but it doesn't mean they can't try to artificially increase their value by changing people's perceptions.
I recently had a conversation with a director level person at Facebook about this very thing (not the SuperWall in particular, but about third party app development and the ability for Facebook to not just duplicate, but build a better mouse-trap and squash these types of applications). The gist of the conversation was this guy telling me that Facebook is not in the business of duplicating 3rd party apps – they truly consider themselves platform developers. Furthermore, Facebook would only consider duplicating a third party app if it enhanced the entire platform. For example, Facebook offers the ability to submit pictures from a cameraphone to a user profile. There are third parties that offer this functionality on the Facebook platform already (my company will offer this soon too, in combination with other features). But this particular feature is offered by Facebook directly because it enhances the photo galleries for the entire platform, allowing all Facebook and third party developers to access the cameraphone pictures. If this remained a stand-alone third party application, cameraphone photos would exist in the silo of a third-party service.
I am not purporting to take this all at face value, but thought relaying the conversation was valuable.
Once Facebook is a public company (or owned by one) the pressure will be on to monetize to the max, and "building a better mouse trap" is one of the most obvious and easiest ways to do it.
http://vidsonly.blogspot.com
John thanks for the info, that sounds like a great conversation you had. Either way, I'm goign to have to disagree with the ever commenting phenom. The platform is what makes the company not the individual side apps. By your logic I could create my own app that says, "Hi I'm Adam Hirsch" and that would be worth $10 million? If so, I'm down for making that app work.
Anyway, Andrew has the best point, these guys are all about setting precedent. However, I really doubt that companies are out there on the hunt for Facebook Apps with that much cash. However, the precendent has been set, so I'm excited to see what happens...
- Adam Hirsch, Mashable