

fbFund? - sanj

I'm surprised no one's starting talking about it.<p>Opinions?  Analysis?
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sanj
More info:

What is fbFund? fbFund is a fund focused on continuing to create incentives
for the development of applications on Facebook Platform by accepting
applications for $25,000-$250,000 non-recourse grants from anyone interested
in building their business on Facebook Platform. The grants will not come with
any conditions except that the grantee use the funds to build their company on
Facebook Platform.

What is the total investment in the fund? Initially, the fund will make
available $10 million in capital. This may grow over time.

Who is eligible? Any individual or company, anywhere in the world can apply as
long as they have not raised any formal venture funding.

What companies are involved? fbFund will be administered by Facebook and
funded by Accel Partners and The Founders Fund.

Will there be any equity granted in exchange for the investment? No, Accel
Partners and The Founders Fund will have the right to fund these companies
first, but beyond this, no equity or debt will be associated with any grant
made.

Who is participating in fbFund? The investment committee will be comprised of
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and CEO, and Chamath Palihapitiya, Facebook
vice president of product marketing and operations. Facebook board members Jim
Breyer (Accel Partners) and Peter Thiel (The Founders Fund) will also be part
of the committee. Additionally, the fund will rely upon an advisory council
that includes Reid Hoffman, founder and chairman of LinkedIn; Josh Kopelman,
founder of First Round Capital; and Rajeev Motwani, professor of computer
science at Stanford University and early advisor to Google.

Why are you forming this? We are forming this fund to help grow the Facebook
application ecosystem. By decreasing the barrier to start a company, we hope
to entice an even larger group of people to become entrepreneurs and build a
compelling business on Facebook Platform. We hope this is also a funding model
that other venture capitalists will follow.

How will you decide on investments? Anyone will be able to apply for an fbFund
grant from the Facebook website. All proposals will be reviewed by the
advisory council and then approved by the investment committee. The goal is to
get decisions to potential grantees within the month that they apply.

How does an individual or company apply? Initially, you can mail your business
plan to platform@facebook.com. In coming weeks, we will set up an online
submission process. Submissions are being accepted immediately.

What will be the criteria for selection? We want to see the most innovative
and ambitious proposals for building a business on Facebook Platform.

How long will it take to hear back from the fund? The goal is to get a
response to the applicant within 30 days of receipt.

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vegashacker
Perhaps some of the hesitation is due to the fact that FB is seeking
"proposals for building a business on Facebook Platform". I think a lot of
people are considering making a FB app to augment their main offering, but
most probably aren't building a whole business on the platform. My
interpretation of the common blogosphere opinion seemed to be that focusing
only on Facebook was too risky given that you could be screwed over by the
whim of the growing giant.

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sanj
I've been assuming that the startups that were granted would be public
information.

If so, it'd look really bad for FB to screw them over.

It's like a reverse protection racket.

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crxnamja
i just got a cease and desist letter from facebook for owning
facebookfund.com...hmm...

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sanj
Not surprised. They have to defend their trademark.

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nextmoveone
Sounds cool.

