~4000 employees generating revenue of 760m, which vendors get a big chunk of, doesn't seem super impressive. I mean it's a nice amount of income, but it doesn't seem very 'whoa..'.
However, they chose to turn down the offer, and take on fourth round of nearly $1bn in Dec/Jan and (presumably) grow internationally. It's a bet by the board that they can grab land faster than anyone else.
How the hell is $1B in funding in Jan 2011 going to retroactively affect revenue in 2010??
Edit: Hypothetical numbers for illustration purposes only:
A invests $100M in company.
B purchases half of A's shares for $200M.
C purchases half of B's shares for $300M.
D purchases remaining A shares for $400M.
50% goes to vendors, so that's down to 380mm
4,000 employees at average of $50K, comes out to 200mm
180mm remaining...they advertise pretty aggressively, so let's say they spend 100mm on ads(probably less).
Which still leaves them with 80mm in profit
- Credit card processing on all transactions (3%?) - Office space for 4000 employees - Taxes - etc
Would take another huge chunk out of that 80mm