by globalrev on 3/20/09, 7:16 PM with 3 comments
But do they actually make a profit? I have searched and tried to figure this out and there doesn't seem to be a clear answer.
Now if 1 in 20 people in the whole world use your product and you're backed by the heaviest VCs then perhaps you don't need to makemoney right away but still...
So I'm thinking about first and foremost: The giants: * Skype * Facebook * Youtube Smaller ones: * Digg * Reddit * Delicious
Secondly: * All HN-startups and similar kind of startups.Why a lot of them perhaps are useful it just seems like stuff people would stop using as soon as it costs money.
by noodle on 3/20/09, 7:45 PM
facebook - advertising revenue
youtube - got acquired. primarily advertising revenue
digg - advertising revenue, sells stuff.
reddit - got acquired. displays some ads, but mostly for its parent company.
delicious - got acquired.
most startups have a plan that consists of one or more of the major 4 plans - sell something, ad revenue, license out your product, cross your fingers and hope to be bought out.
a good business relies on one or more of the first 3. the more of the first 3, the better.
by callmeed on 3/20/09, 9:15 PM
When the company is public (or acquired by a public company) you can usually find out if they're profitable.
For example, YouTube is not profitable. It generates revenue via advertising but not enough to cover its costs. http://rochakchauhan.com/blog/2008/08/09/youtube-not-profita...
Skype, it appears, is a profitable venture for eBay. Search "skype profitable" and you'll find that it has been since '07.
Because Facebook is a private company, you'll find less specifics about their revenue and profit. My understanding, however, is that they're not profitable yet. IIRC Marc Andreessen told Charlie Rose that they could be profitable if they put ads on the home page.
I don't know enough about the other ...