I think this is more than enough Diplomats references for any blog, ever. I promise I will stop.
I just wanted to touch on this, like every other dumbass blogger out today. This is the most interesting piece of news to come off a major network in a long time, for those of us interested in startups. I remember when (just a few years ago) Facebook was soundly ridiculed for not selling out for $875 million. I was one of the people doing the ridiculing.
For those of you too lazy to click the blue text, Facebook sold 1.6% of their stock to Microsoft for a cool $246 million, Sit back and think about that for a second. I and my co-founders were just in the running for the latest YC funding round, and we were pumped about getting maybe 20K. And yes, I know it is more about the connections than the money. But still, to anyone starting a startup, or even contemplating it, chew on this: the current valuation of Facebook is in the neighborhood of $15 billion. With a B. Ford Motors is worth $18 billion, in comparison.
I'd also like to touch on the significance of this to Microsoft. It is the smartest thing I have seen them do in quite some time. As I read in some other random blog linked to Hacker News, some envision the role of Microsoft morphing into a company that soaks up hot startups to add innovation to their otherwise quite stale product. I sincerely hope that this is the case; it would be really interesting indeed to see Microsoft in such a role.
I'm heading down to Boston tonight. Now seems like a good opportunity to add this link, in case you actually want to see what Sean is up to 'round the clock*:
http://twitter.com/cagedbird
*DIsclaimer: Twitter is weirdly addictive. You've been warned.
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