Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group
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Friendster, dead.
Multiply, dead.
Plurk, soon to be dead (or dead already).
There's a big boom in Asia in general that is a known fact. But when it comes to SE Asia, the profit margin is small in USD unless you're operating under the local currency (i.e.: have your office there, do your business there, etc).
If the HQ is in SF where everybody lives and breathes SF bubble and not in SE Asia or Indonesia, you won't have much insight other than some generic dataset (country X loves to post pictures, for example).
Web-apps that make money tend to be E-commerce sites (http://tiket.com) that have complex affiliates behind it.
Eyeballs type of apps (web, mobile, anything) generate lifestyle business, not Facebook level IPO.
The real winner is the founder who can flip his/her company for multi-million-(usa)-dollars to the highest bidder (typically the conglomerate family).
PS: Oddly enough, SE Asia is where the phone companies peaked and die. Nokia, Blackberry, the pattern is striking!
Sure, they have their bad moments (pun intended), being caught uploading users' address books, spamming user's friends with invites and perhaps paying for downloads. No one's perfect and some of us sometimes do try to stretch things a little to see how far we can go. Don't we?
I remember the joy I felt when they released Path 2.0 and I chanced upon it. The cover photos, pulling down the timeline to see more of the cover photo, the smooth springly animation they use for the actions button, the gorgeous sign up screens. Most of these concepts have been utilized in some form in other apps now. These people create good work.
We should be rooting for them, not cursing them.
PS: Just a fan of the work behind it, not friends with anyone involved in the company. Just someone exercising a little bit of common sense and empathy. PSS: and to those who want to know, just look at their app in the various app stores and you would already know how much they charge for stickers and subscription. No need to predict or guess.
[1] Seem to be a jerk, according to a single interview. And according to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7039043 and write-ups else where, PG seems to be sexist (and racist?). Do we just take things people say as the whole truth, at face value?
Are you being sarcastic here? I can't tell. Uploading your users' address books to your servers without permission isn't just 'stretching things a little', it's a textbook privacy violation.
Dave is a celebrity CEO. He wants to be a celebrity, and maybe a designer, and being CEO of Path is his means towards that end. The best thing for Path would be to bring in a fully capable COO to run the show. This may require eventually transitioning Dave out of the CEO seat to promote the COO if they are able to turn things around.
In contrast, I've only interacted with PG a couple of times, but I've read some of his articles. I think PG does try to be an honest person, and sometimes that doesn't come out right, especially in sound bite form. PG is definitely smug too, but it's an intellectual-light smugness that he backs up with explanations and evidence. Whereas Dave's is a celebrity smugness that he backs up with false promises that he doesn't take seriously.
1) The "smaller, tighter" social network just diminishes its viral component by design 2) The mobile only approach means I can't type out a longer post or entry about my day 3) Lack of viable monetization options means I can't trust my data long-term with them. 4) Lack of non-people "Paths" -- i.e. I really like to follow certain companies/organizations on Facebook because I can keep up to date with what's going on. For example, I follow a few yoga studios on FB because they're always discussing new classes, teachers, class changes, etc. Say what you want about FB & Twitter, but they know how to craft addicting news feeds that I consume like water.
For the cynical it's a collective eyeroll.
- Lack of traction as evidenced by dismal ratings on the App Store compared to competitors - Supposed focus on international markets without clear commitment to establishing a presence there - HR troubles (as commenter linked to below) - Indication that money is being spent on paid installs by virtue of placing in the top 100 in Chad and Niger
Summary: low (if in USD, high if in local currency).
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/my-phone/2013/03/dave-mori...
Indonesians probably found Path interesting because it was foreign. They probably didn't care that a company in San Francisco was slurping up their address book. However, a local conglomerate with a dodgy reputation?
http://en.dailysocial.net/post/outrage-over-announcement-tha...
>Indonesians outraged
The investment news from Bakrie sent a shock across Indonesia. Across Twitter and Path, people are talking as if the group had acquired Path and many have decided to remove Path from their devices...
The Bakrie Group and family has a terrible reputation in the country. As per the Jakarta Post report in February 2013, Bakrie Life has been in a deadlock with its clients regarding a failed investment scheme...
The group’s largest indiscretion in the country, and one that’s causing much of people’s anger towards the family, is the seven year mudflow in Porong, Sidoarjo, East Java. The ecological disaster has been attributed to Lapindo Brantas, a Bakrie-owned company, which conducted a drilling expedition in the area in 2006...
In short: SE Asia is where Social Networking sites die.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see people come and try to turn this around (e.g.: make money as a hi-tech company in my home country) but so far the facts have stated otherwise.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heyday-journaling.-reimagine...
Definitely. They were looking For $50 Million and a lead investor in July.
[1] http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/s... [2] http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&...
In Indonesia, $15/month == check e-mail, surf facebook, whatsapp/line/kakaotalk all-you-can-eat buffet.
You don't need to shell $25M to make Path exclusive on your network. Even if you do, the Math just doesn't add up.
Speaking of Bakrie group, financially, they're not doing well lately: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/09/bakrie-telecom...
Having said that, I do root the deal and really hope both sides can pull it off because I want to see (other) creative ideas to make things like this work in SE Asia.
Pray that the money isn't connected to Suharto[1]'s old boys network and never take a holiday in Asia again.
http://jakartainformer.com/96869/ghost-of-suharto-gives-life...
*Indonesia’s autocratic former President Suharto left office in disgrace, his political empire and the economy in ruin, but 15 years later, his old ruling party hopes nostalgia for his legacy will sweep it back into power.
Polls show the Golkar Party, which Suharto created as the parliamentary rubber stamp for his 32-year hardline rule, is running around second place.
...Aburizal Bakrie, 67, head of Golkar and the party’s presidential candidate next year."
This is Bakrie VC group, not Bakrie himself. More like his sons/daughters (second generation) using Bakrie's wealth, not him.
This is more like "my cars are better than yours" among the rich in Jakarta. Follow the startup scene there and you'll realize a pattern.
The richest family in Indonesia not too long ago bought kaskus.co.id (one of the most trafficked website in Indonesia) for $60M (rumour) and I'm almost sure the ROI is Mission Impossible (^_^).
It's more "I've got lots of money, gotta spend some somewhere...".