The $19 billion deal to sell WhatsApp Inc. to Facebook Inc. (FB) started at Yahoo! Inc. more than five years ago, when Jan Koum became disillusioned at the way Internet companies were fixated on advertising.
He left Yahoo in 2007 with one of the company’s other engineers, Brian Acton, and started a company by 2009 that shuns advertising altogether. The strategy allowed them to concentrate on creating an easy-to-use messaging product instead of developing new ways to glean customer information for their marketing pitches, Koum said in a 2012 blog post.
“No one wakes up excited to see more advertising, no one goes to sleep thinking about the ads they’ll see tomorrow,” Koum said in the post. A hand-written note on the his desk reads: “No Ads! No Games! No Gimmicks!”
http://www.bloomberg.com/
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Earlier today, Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp for $16 billion. It’s a spectacular milestone for the company’s co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, and their remarkable team. From the moment they opened the doors of WhatsApp, Jan and Brian wanted a different kind of company. While others sought attention, Jan and…
Tags: brian, whatsapp, jan, facebook, company, games, $, billion, koum, acton
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Facebook has bought messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth a total of $19bn (£11.4bn) in cash and shares. It is the social networking giant's biggest acquisition to date. WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users and is popular with people looking to avoid text messaging charges. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26266689
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Facebook Inc. (FB)’s $19 billion purchase of mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp Inc. is a stark reminder of how much money phone carriers are losing out on as competitors let users text and chat at no charge. Free social-messaging applications like WhatsApp cost phone providers around the world -- from Vodafone Group…
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With its proposed deal to buy Viber Media, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten is stepping into a war zone. The world of smartphone communications apps is fiercely competitive with many powerful players, and Viber’s success isn’t guaranteed. So why is Rakuten paying $900 million to get into this market? http://blogs.wsj.com/
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Follow up of my post on BIG COMPANIES NOW HAVE A HAND IN THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY Here is one picture.
Tags: economy, companies, post
Earlier today, Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp for $16 billion. It’s a spectacular milestone for the company’s co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, and their remarkable team.
From the moment they opened the doors of WhatsApp, Jan and Brian wanted a different kind of company. While others sought attention, Jan and Brian shunned the spotlight, refusing even to hang a sign outside the WhatsApp offices in Mountain View. As competitors promoted games and rushed to build platforms, Jan and Brian remained devoted to a clean, lightning fast communications service that works flawlessly.
http://sequoiacapital.tumblr.com/
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Facebook has bought messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth a total of $19bn (£11.4bn) in cash and shares. It is the social networking giant's biggest acquisition to date. WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users and is popular with people looking to avoid text messaging charges. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26266689
Tags: whatsapp, facebook, $, acquisition, telecom, economy
85
The $19 billion deal to sell WhatsApp Inc. to Facebook Inc. (FB) started at Yahoo! Inc. more than five years ago, when Jan Koum became disillusioned at the way Internet companies were fixated on advertising. He left Yahoo in 2007 with one of the company’s other engineers, Brian Acton, and…
Tags: koum, whatsapp, company, games, facebook, billion, $, jan, acton, brian
84
Facebook Inc. (FB)’s $19 billion purchase of mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp Inc. is a stark reminder of how much money phone carriers are losing out on as competitors let users text and chat at no charge. Free social-messaging applications like WhatsApp cost phone providers around the world -- from Vodafone Group…
Tags: billion, $, whatsapp, communications, facebook, competitors, telecom, economy
61
He's become a successful CEO and a generous person, but ten years ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used to have something of an attitude. For example, he used to carry a business card that read, "I'm CEO…Bitch." Once, back then, Zuckerberg played a pretty nasty prank on top venture capital…
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It is often a sign of a bubble when analysts and commentators rush to explain away each new upward step in valuations – and then come up with expansive arguments to justify why prices should be even higher. Two events in the tech world in recent days seem to fit…
Tags: explain, whatsapp, rushed, $, sign, facebook, economy
Facebook has bought messaging app WhatsApp in a deal worth a total of $19bn (£11.4bn) in cash and shares.
It is the social networking giant’s biggest acquisition to date.
WhatsApp has over 450 million monthly users and is popular with people looking to avoid text messaging charges.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-26266689
Related Posts
86
Earlier today, Facebook announced its acquisition of WhatsApp for $16 billion. It’s a spectacular milestone for the company’s co-founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton, and their remarkable team. From the moment they opened the doors of WhatsApp, Jan and Brian wanted a different kind of company. While others sought attention, Jan and…
Tags: whatsapp, facebook, $, acquisition, telecom, economy
85
Facebook Inc. (FB)’s $19 billion purchase of mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp Inc. is a stark reminder of how much money phone carriers are losing out on as competitors let users text and chat at no charge. Free social-messaging applications like WhatsApp cost phone providers around the world -- from Vodafone Group…
Tags: $, whatsapp, facebook, users, text, telecom, economy
83
The $19 billion deal to sell WhatsApp Inc. to Facebook Inc. (FB) started at Yahoo! Inc. more than five years ago, when Jan Koum became disillusioned at the way Internet companies were fixated on advertising. He left Yahoo in 2007 with one of the company’s other engineers, Brian Acton, and…
Tags: whatsapp, messaging, facebook, deal, $, telecom, economy
72
With its proposed deal to buy Viber Media, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten is stepping into a war zone. The world of smartphone communications apps is fiercely competitive with many powerful players, and Viber’s success isn’t guaranteed. So why is Rakuten paying $900 million to get into this market? http://blogs.wsj.com/
Tags: buy, $, deal, telecom, economy
58
Follow up of my post on BIG COMPANIES NOW HAVE A HAND IN THE COLLABORATIVE ECONOMY Here is one picture.
Tags: economy
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