
Path Closes $25 Million Funding, Led by Indonesia’s Bakrie Global Group - _pius
http://recode.net/2014/01/10/exclusive-path-completes-25-million-funding-led-by-indonesias-bakrie-global-group/?utm_source=rc_twitter
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w1ntermute
Funding tip for failing startups: when all the domestic investors have
cottoned on to the fact that you're full of shit, just go abroad to find
someone who's gullible and has a lot of money.

~~~
wxm
Funding tip for smart startups who recognise that their target demographic is
shifting: Find investors in regions where your traction and growth figures
peak. Having insight in SE Asia and Indonesia in particular, their
familiarity, engagement and loyalty with Path (and Twitter) is incredible and
such an announcement shouldn't be a surprise to anyone with knowledge of and
interest in SE Asia and Indonesia in particular.

~~~
edwinnathaniel
So far, no outside/foreign social networking site have successfully exploit SE
Asia even after their explosive growth in that region.

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](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!

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hboon
Such negativity in this thread. Do we all love to hate someone who is working
hard on their startup just because they are jerks[1]? Even if the CEO is a
jerk, they have a nicely designed product with a seemingly noble goal, with a
talented pool of people working behind the scenes, working towards their
objectives.

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](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?

~~~
anonxyz
I've done business and personally interacted with Dave Morin on several
occasions. He's not mean to your face, but he is a little too smug for my
tastes. His real problem is he lacks rigor and is not a fundamentally honest
person. He glosses over the details and doesn't follow up well. He claims
something's going to happen to avoid looking bad, and then it doesn't--or it
takes forever. For example, Path has been claiming they were about to raise a
$50m round for what, a year now?

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.

------
carsonm
I guess I'm part of the small minority who love Path. It's my favorite app, I
use it almost every day. I use it strictly with my immediate family - my
brothers, sister, their spouses and my parents. I barely have time for
Twitter, I don't use Facebook, but I use Path. Their pitch about deeper
connections and about being real and authentic rings true to how we use it.
I'm quite disappointed to watch them flounder.

~~~
s3r3nity
I really really want to like this app more -- I love the journaling
implications, and the design just makes me smile every time I open it -- but
its vision will be its downfall:

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.

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alienfluid
What an utter waste of capital.

~~~
joelrunyon
Can you explain your reasoning behind this?

~~~
bradleyland
Because Path is almost certainly in a death spiral, based based on the layoffs
and talent exodus. Because their CEO is Dave Morin, who hasn't done himself
any favors by sounding like a huge douchebag [1]. Because they're a social
media app on the wane, which is as good as a dead social media app.

[http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/my-phone/2013/03/dave-
mori...](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/my-phone/2013/03/dave-morin-path-
facebook-apple?currentPage=all)

~~~
w1ntermute
[http://jesuschristsiliconvalley.tumblr.com/post/46539276780/...](http://jesuschristsiliconvalley.tumblr.com/post/46539276780/a-cunt-
and-his-iphone)

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weisser
I wanted to like Path but then I heard about HeyDay and I didn't care anymore.

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heyday-
journaling.-reimagine...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/heyday-
journaling.-reimagined./id738164919?mt=8)

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caffeineninja
Hail Mary round.

~~~
byoung2
[http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/16/path-is-
raising-50m-at-a-50...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/16/path-is-
raising-50m-at-a-500m-valuation/)

Definitely. They were looking For $50 Million and a lead investor in July.

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aerick
The Bakrie group also owns a wireless telecommunication company in Indonesia
[1]. Apparently this is a strategic move to increase wireless data usage and
number of subscribers [2].

[1]
[http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/s...](http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=BTEL:IJ)
[2]
[http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&...](http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Finet.detik.com%2Fread%2F2014%2F01%2F11%2F181640%2F2464973%2F319%2Fduit-
bakrie-di-path-bisa-hidupi-esia-setahun%3F991104topnews)

~~~
edwinnathaniel
As far as I know, wireless data usage in Indonesia is "unlimited" (with double
quotes...). The usage and billing are different if you compare it with the USA
Bell/AT&T money-sucking operation.

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...](http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/11/09/bakrie-telecom-
downgraded-after-missing-payment.html)

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.

------
650REDHAIR
In Path's position what would you do with this capital?

~~~
yapcguy
Pay back the original Path investors $25m.

Pray that the money isn't connected to Suharto[1]'s old boys network and never
take a holiday in Asia again.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto)

~~~
edwinnathaniel
Money isn't related for sure. Bakrie is on their own.

~~~
yapcguy
I don't know but it looks like there are connections...

[http://jakartainformer.com/96869/ghost-of-suharto-gives-
life...](http://jakartainformer.com/96869/ghost-of-suharto-gives-life-to-his-
old-political-party/)

*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."

~~~
edwinnathaniel
Golkar had been up for grab after Suharto's power diminished significantly.

------
newgrad
Bakrie is one of the big players in the politic of Indonesia. It makes sense
for him to try to control the (maybe 2nd) most used social media platform in
Indo. He probably expects to have the same influence as what Obama 2008
digital campaign team had.

~~~
edwinnathaniel
Being an investor for Path (and potentially have some say to their roadmap) is
not the same with Obama 2008 digital campaign team. I doubt Abu Bakrie can
utilize Path (since it's a close/private social network) the way Obama team
did with social media back then and most recently.

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...".

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res0nat0r
Oops.

