

Facebook puts off IPO until late 2012 - bhartzer
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2b842146-dec3-11e0-a228-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XxCjKiPg

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dreamux
Groupon probably damaged software IPO sentiment, and people want to see how
Google+ will play out. Also, they don't really need the cash and waiting will
allow them to build a consistent revenue history (which will probably be
disclosed, along SEC rules of 500+ investors). They can wait this one out.

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andrewljohnson
I think Google+ already played out, the same way Buzz did. It's now just an
echo chamber filled with Google employees and my computer programmer friends.
It was nice for about two days.

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rorrr
Yeah, Google keeps making the same mistake by doing the closed invitation-only
beta thing. My google plus is basically programmers and google employees
posting shit from reddit and HN.

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bitskits
G+ is still in field trial, but it is far from "closed". I have 150 invites,
as do all users to the best of my knowledge. The growth was limited for the
first couple of weeks, but that is no longer the case.

I would disagree that controlled growth of a new product is a mistake for a
company at Google's scale and brand recognition, and I would also disagree
that it is still a "closed invitation-only beta thing".

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rorrr
Yeah? What's the male/female ratio on your google+?

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archangel_one
I would say mine's somewhere between 1:1 and 2:1. Honestly, I don't see this
as being the problem so much as the fact that it's just so quiet by comparison
to Facebook.

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dmk23
With all the diffusion of their shares in the secondary markets they are on
the way to reach 500 private shareholder limit and be forced by SEC to make
the same kind of disclosures as a public company.

If anything the IPO timing is probably affected by their ability to stay under
this magic 500 number.

~~~
dmk23
Spoke too soon, looks like they have already reached 500 according to the
article.

In that case hard to see how much value would be in staying "private" given
the same disclosures and the liquidity in the secondary markets.

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nextparadigms
That's because the reason they've been giving to the press "that they want to
keep employees hungry" is not really the real reason. With the Google+ launch,
they probably think that the market will undervalue them now if they make it
public.

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veyron
We've all seen rumored revenue numbers, but is there any indication that
facebook is actually turning a profit?

If facebook really wanted to boost public image, a whiff of real profit would
be the trick.

~~~
jethroalias97
It is profitable: <http://www.google.com/search?q=is+facebook+profitable>

