Joe2

Andreessen: Facebook Could Do $1 Billion in Revenue

I don't get your point. OK so they gain market share and then what? Is your point that if they get beyond a certain market share, they can then switch to revenue generating mode and not lose customers, the way that myspace did? Is that what you are suggesting? Why do you suppose that would be the case for facebook? Are they THAT different from myspace?

Now Andressen's making a different point. He seems to be proud that facebook could earn $1B if they tried. The point is: it doesn't matter if they earn $1B or $10M. If they are spending more than they are earning, they WILL run out of cash.

What Andressen, Zuckerberg and others are really saying is this: we can bring this thing to a point where we can get a pop out of an IPO or Google will buy us and then we can collect our investment returns and go home. It doesn't really matter that facebook generates a profit. We just need to get it to large enough numbers (users, eyeballs - whatever) that we can sell it. Why don't they just admit this?

I am skeptical of any website and any CEO that says "there's no need for a revenue plan until 2011". What they are saying is "please, someone, buy us so we don't have to work hard to produce a site that has services that someone will pay for".

Oh please.