Chatter patter: chat thread 8 - Page 2

Originally posted by: charminggenie

More economics:-

Facebook actually paid 4 billion in cash and the rest in stock. 19 billion with 2 billion in breakup fees. Forget the stock as that is probably locked up and is accounted for but the cash payment is actually equivalent to 1,5 $ per Facebook shareholder or 2.2% like a dividend.

F b purchased instagram with 70mil users and thats now grown to over 180mil and its making money. Once they integrate FB with whatsapp the user base will reach 750mil within a year. How they will monetize it remains to be seen but there is a plan here and so far it has been working.

Phew , I feel like going all banker on this deal! My industry needs these exciting deals!

IMO we are going through a social media bubble. Whatsapp does not have a steady stream of income. It could be monetized as a paid service or do a premium version/free version with ads. But then there are OS competitors like Telegram etc. Social media is valuable, but more as a marketing and communications tool rather than an investment tool. It makes sense as a marketing tool because it can yield high ROI due to the low upfront costs. For some reason the investment value of these apps is being driven up. Not as rapid and vociferous as the Dotcom bubble, but I think social medias artificial demand will diminish and the bubble will bust eventually. But it wont be as devastating as the Dotcom bubble. Players like FB, Google, MS are far more diversified and the OS players are not doing it for income.

So injured Dhoni out of Asia Cup. Kohli to lead. Is this genuinely an injury, or a means to gradually wean Dhoni out? I heard rumors that after the IPL-CSK scandals, Dhoni's defensive captaincy - he would be ousted soon. Injury seems convenient amidst these rumors.

I just downloaded Telegram today. If FB monetizes WhatsApp, I'm out. Social media is here to stay forever, just like Dotcom never died. But I think some valuations are inaccurate and overrated. 

Save Dhoni? Elaborate please. With Virat becoming more popular as the captaincy candidate, doesn't such a move risk Dhoni too?

Aggression will be tempered in time. He needs more exposure to do that. I think his hunger to win and be on top is what will make him successful. But I agree, he should be put in charge after WC. He may not learn  in time.

I used to like Dhoni as a captain. His "captain cool" served him well. You don't need to be aggressive and hot headed. I also have some sort of respect for faith in players. Everyone has off periods and you need a captain to have faith in you to get out of a slump.

Unfortunately, as  he became more popular/powerful - faith in players became an excuse for cronyism.  He would back his favorites at the expense of others. Being cool became being defensive, where every time the opposition struck back he would go into defense mode to contain runs or bat out time rather than go for a win.

The BCCI corruption etc. is a sad state. We could be a true world no.1 dominating both domestic and international, but that won't happen till our systems improve.