http://www.businessinsider.com/the-facebook-financials-gideon-yu-wont-be-reporting-2009-4 "Facebook's revenue is growing 70% from where it was last year. (We believe last year's revenue was about $365 million, so assuming some slowdown through the year, this would put 2009 revenue at $500 million-ish) The company has generated positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) since August of 2007. The company expects to start generating cash from operations ("Operationally cash-flow positive including cap-ex") at some point during 2010."
The fact that their revenue is currently less than their costs does nothing to detract from the fact that they are monetised and selling a brand, reliant on income for their continued existence.
while we're at it Ian. If the 'ambulance chasers' as you put it come looking, I shall simply point them elsewhere, mentionning that after 15 years involved in litigation, I am more than capable of dealing myself.
Facebook, Twitter and MySpace all make a loss with MySpace losing most - it only survives thanks to a cash injection every year from Google - a payment which ends next year.
Facebook claims it will be profitable next year but at the moment it's not making money because everyone takes everything for free and for granted - and still people start groups protesting decisions made by Facebook. Also Facebook advertisers are known to not make much money on it, if at all, but I don't know the figures for sure.
The phrase "don't look a gifthorse in the mouth" comes to mind.
thanks fellas. just popping in to post the comment I made on High Key Lee's blog - since some are slagging me off and saying i'm portraying myself as a victim etc. I put it to them that I am entitled to express this opinion - and that once expressing it, I should not expect libelous comments from the Company I, a consumer, have expressed a valid opinion on.
Dr Mark K. Smith said... Hi Lee - thanks for that - fair and balanced - always like that sort of blog! The cat is about to be put amongst the pigeons though. ipadio already had an iphone app - but it's live telephony again with data add-ons - images, geolocation, metadata etc. However I am presently betatesting V2 of this app which is both live phone and record and upload - i.e. both technologies in one app. This will shortly be available on android apps as well. I think the space is massive so with Tweetmic and others well in the space. It's nice that all of us have a passion for voice. Regards Mark
08 JULY 2009 11:25 Lee Martin said... Thanks for the response Mark. It is interesting that you are giving the end user a choice, record & upload or upload live. That could be a winner. The record and upload facility, I presume that would be relative quality to Audioboo posts?
08 JULY 2009 11:40 Dr Mark K. Smith said... The issue we face in ipadio is a fairly obvious one. If we are streaming out audio live (which we are) from any phone, then the quality of the audio is the audio we get from the phone. That can sometimes be very poor. But that's because we made an ethical stance 2 years ago to make this work on all phones (we all forget sometimes that not everyone can afford a £400 phone and we don't all get data connections). Apart from the data and £ issue on handsets using telephony opens up truly sci-fi possibilities which I will be posting on in due course. However one criticism of ipadio is sound quality!!! Mmmmm - so what do we do? Ok we'll give people an iphone app, an android and symbian version as well. We have the resources and backers to do that. But make no mistake we are an anyphone player and that will always be the case. There’s also a double irony on this issue – and that’s the fact that the iphone audio delivery on its telephone is shockingly awful!!! With regards to your specific question - given that the iphone can be used as a dictaphone which is what Tweetmic and others do - then yes of course the quality will match - each of us have a limited number of combinations actually – the barrier to entry in this space is marginal – 10 days of SE and you have an audio app. The cleverer piece is what you do with the audio you have and we think given I have a dozen first class software engineers beneath this we can be quite smart. That said we are also learning - we listen and respond to the community – so comments that are critical are actually very helpful to us. Don’t need compliments – ego large enough already ;-) but we are also not arrogant to suggest we know what's best. Users often do! Cheers, M
08 JULY 2009 12:47 Colt Seavers said... Love the surge of interest in audio as a social media now. Been a fan for years as a sound recordist and studio owner. for my needs. I wanted clear and simple - AudioBoo openned my eyes to social audio - and i've developed a 'brand loyalty'.
Every time I read a blog about the 'Audio Revolution' that, in truth has only commenced in the last few months, I read a huge post from Dr Smith - usually following the same 'mine is bigger than yours' flavour.
Often the Blog post has focussed on AudioBoo - as it's new, where ipadio was around a year ago and is a well funded beast with a large team.
The flavor is always the same.
'iPadio' holds the high ground as their mission is to give voice to those parts of the world that aren't touched by wifi, 3g etc. I think it's great ground to hold. I admire that as a company focus and goal - it's a brand I could grow to trust and support.
However, what comes accross very, very strongly in all the responses I've read from Dr Smith, is a very aggressive, very market hungry, often arrogant and usually 'strong sell'. I recently had to remove him and ipadio from my list of followed people on Twitter as it seemed clear that 'social' to them meant Sell Sell Sell.
One can't resist the conclusion that ipadio has been sitting around for 12 months wondering how to excite people about its products. It observed the 'blow up' of AudioBoo, and scrambled to the battlements.
It's the very 'privileged' iphone and symbian users that Dr Smith's tone implies should feel 'very very lucky indeed', that are driving the audio revolution. The reason there is a revolution at all is purely down to quality and simplicity of transfer now opening up.
Can't wait for the day Dr Smith admits it - despite his team of however many armies of programmers - he wishes he'd concentrated on quality over quantity and is now picking up the pieces.
There's nothing all that revolutionary about recording phone calls or leaving answer machine messages from my point of view. But then I suppose I am 'selfish comfortable (i hope you feel guilty) early adopter in the UK.
It's a shame. I had no reason to dislike this company - but they have now joined the ranks of the other Hard Seller's on the Internet for me - and I will avoid them for that reason alone.
I'm sure, if he spots this, we'll see a robust defense from Dr Smith. For my part - as a consumer on the internet who just wants to enjoy tech and isn't looking for a nobel prize, I don't care. By now, i've read it all before.
Apologies for any typo's etc in this - it's far too long and boring to go back and proof.
08 JULY 2009 20:25 Mark said... No long post this time then, no need to defend myself or my team. My work speaks for itself. As ipadio is free I do find your comment of sell sell sell risible, but as ever Mark I wish you well.
08 JULY 2009 20:41 Colt Seavers said... I fail to see how selling has to involve a cash exchange with the end user - have you seen how much facebook makes?
Well said, ipadio should be looking for advocates and fans to celebrate what they do.Their people come across very pushy. Change the tune and search for advocates ipdaio.
whilst I will make no comment : since this response is so laced with ignorance, it appears to have been deleted. I repeat it here from IanM. It was of course e-mailed to me.
*I think this is being unfair on Ipadio. There is nothing wrong with telling someone about a service, this has clearly been stirred up and so blown out of proportion. I have not found Ipadio to be annoying at all. With this in mind, you might think I prefer Ipadio, but I prefer Audioboo of the five 'phlogging' services available because I find it the easiest to use (and I don't own an iPhone or iPod Touch - yet). There is no mention here of Clickbank or Spymaster which I'm sure many of us using Twittter have reluctantly heard far too much about lately, but it seems it is Ipadio taking a hit after getting on the wrong side of Colt who appears to portray himself as a victim - it's not necessary or relevant to mention those problems as they don't stop you recording or complaining, I almost expect an ambulance chaser to be helping you claim for mental distress! You may question "what has Clickbank or Spymaster got to do with it?" So to clarify, they have annoyed people far more, yet apparently nobody is trying to portray their network marketing strategy as evil or ineffective in the use of social media. Also while I prefer Audioboo I will use Ipadio as well for now to see how they develop the service.*
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-facebook-financials-gideon-yu-wont-be-reporting-2009-4
"Facebook's revenue is growing 70% from where it was last year. (We believe last year's revenue was about $365 million, so assuming some slowdown through the year, this would put 2009 revenue at $500 million-ish)
The company has generated positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) since August of 2007.
The company expects to start generating cash from operations ("Operationally cash-flow positive including cap-ex") at some point during 2010."
The fact that their revenue is currently less than their costs does nothing to detract from the fact that they are monetised and selling a brand, reliant on income for their continued existence.
while we're at it Ian. If the 'ambulance chasers' as you put it come looking, I shall simply point them elsewhere, mentionning that after 15 years involved in litigation, I am more than capable of dealing myself.
ColtSeavers almost 4 years ago
Facebook, Twitter and MySpace all make a loss with MySpace losing most - it only survives thanks to a cash injection every year from Google - a payment which ends next year.
Facebook claims it will be profitable next year but at the moment it's not making money because everyone takes everything for free and for granted - and still people start groups protesting decisions made by Facebook. Also Facebook advertisers are known to not make much money on it, if at all, but I don't know the figures for sure.
The phrase "don't look a gifthorse in the mouth" comes to mind.
ian almost 4 years ago
Why I Dislike Ipadio And Its Posse
ColtSeavers almost 4 years ago
thanks fellas. just popping in to post the comment I made on High Key Lee's blog - since some are slagging me off and saying i'm portraying myself as a victim etc. I put it to them that I am entitled to express this opinion - and that once expressing it, I should not expect libelous comments from the Company I, a consumer, have expressed a valid opinion on.
Dr Mark K. Smith said...
Hi Lee - thanks for that - fair and balanced - always like that sort of blog! The cat is about to be put amongst the pigeons though. ipadio already had an iphone app - but it's live telephony again with data add-ons - images, geolocation, metadata etc. However I am presently betatesting V2 of this app which is both live phone and record and upload - i.e. both technologies in one app. This will shortly be available on android apps as well. I think the space is massive so with Tweetmic and others well in the space. It's nice that all of us have a passion for voice. Regards Mark
08 JULY 2009 11:25
Lee Martin said...
Thanks for the response Mark.
It is interesting that you are giving the end user a choice, record & upload or upload live. That could be a winner.
The record and upload facility, I presume that would be relative quality to Audioboo posts?
08 JULY 2009 11:40
Dr Mark K. Smith said...
The issue we face in ipadio is a fairly obvious one. If we are streaming out audio live (which we are) from any phone, then the quality of the audio is the audio we get from the phone. That can sometimes be very poor. But that's because we made an ethical stance 2 years ago to make this work on all phones (we all forget sometimes that not everyone can afford a £400 phone and we don't all get data connections). Apart from the data and £ issue on handsets using telephony opens up truly sci-fi possibilities which I will be posting on in due course. However one criticism of ipadio is sound quality!!! Mmmmm - so what do we do? Ok we'll give people an iphone app, an android and symbian version as well. We have the resources and backers to do that. But make no mistake we are an anyphone player and that will always be the case. There’s also a double irony on this issue – and that’s the fact that the iphone audio delivery on its telephone is shockingly awful!!!
With regards to your specific question - given that the iphone can be used as a dictaphone which is what Tweetmic and others do - then yes of course the quality will match - each of us have a limited number of combinations actually – the barrier to entry in this space is marginal – 10 days of SE and you have an audio app. The cleverer piece is what you do with the audio you have and we think given I have a dozen first class software engineers beneath this we can be quite smart.
That said we are also learning - we listen and respond to the community – so comments that are critical are actually very helpful to us. Don’t need compliments – ego large enough already ;-) but we are also not arrogant to suggest we know what's best. Users often do!
Cheers, M
08 JULY 2009 12:47
Colt Seavers said...
Love the surge of interest in audio as a social media now. Been a fan for years as a sound recordist and studio owner. for my needs. I wanted clear and simple - AudioBoo openned my eyes to social audio - and i've developed a 'brand loyalty'.
Every time I read a blog about the 'Audio Revolution' that, in truth has only commenced in the last few months, I read a huge post from Dr Smith - usually following the same 'mine is bigger than yours' flavour.
Often the Blog post has focussed on AudioBoo - as it's new, where ipadio was around a year ago and is a well funded beast with a large team.
The flavor is always the same.
'iPadio' holds the high ground as their mission is to give voice to those parts of the world that aren't touched by wifi, 3g etc. I think it's great ground to hold. I admire that as a company focus and goal - it's a brand I could grow to trust and support.
However, what comes accross very, very strongly in all the responses I've read from Dr Smith, is a very aggressive, very market hungry, often arrogant and usually 'strong sell'. I recently had to remove him and ipadio from my list of followed people on Twitter as it seemed clear that 'social' to them meant Sell Sell Sell.
One can't resist the conclusion that ipadio has been sitting around for 12 months wondering how to excite people about its products. It observed the 'blow up' of AudioBoo, and scrambled to the battlements.
It's the very 'privileged' iphone and symbian users that Dr Smith's tone implies should feel 'very very lucky indeed', that are driving the audio revolution.
The reason there is a revolution at all is purely down to quality and simplicity of transfer now opening up.
Can't wait for the day Dr Smith admits it - despite his team of however many armies of programmers - he wishes he'd concentrated on quality over quantity and is now picking up the pieces.
There's nothing all that revolutionary about recording phone calls or leaving answer machine messages from my point of view. But then I suppose I am 'selfish comfortable (i hope you feel guilty) early adopter in the UK.
It's a shame. I had no reason to dislike this company - but they have now joined the ranks of the other Hard Seller's on the Internet for me - and I will avoid them for that reason alone.
I'm sure, if he spots this, we'll see a robust defense from Dr Smith. For my part - as a consumer on the internet who just wants to enjoy tech and isn't looking for a nobel prize, I don't care. By now, i've read it all before.
Apologies for any typo's etc in this - it's far too long and boring to go back and proof.
08 JULY 2009 20:25
Mark said...
No long post this time then, no need to defend myself or my team. My work speaks for itself. As ipadio is free I do find your comment of sell sell sell risible, but as ever Mark I wish you well.
08 JULY 2009 20:41
Colt Seavers said...
I fail to see how selling has to involve a cash exchange with the end user - have you seen how much facebook makes?
08 JULY 2009 21:05
ColtSeavers almost 4 years ago
Well said, ipadio should be looking for advocates and fans to celebrate what they do.Their people come across very pushy. Change the tune and search for advocates ipdaio.
RodSloane almost 4 years ago
whilst I will make no comment : since this response is so laced with ignorance, it appears to have been deleted. I repeat it here from IanM. It was of course e-mailed to me.
*I think this is being unfair on Ipadio. There is nothing wrong with telling someone about a service, this has clearly been stirred up and so blown out of proportion. I have not found Ipadio to be annoying at all. With this in mind, you might think I prefer Ipadio, but I prefer Audioboo of the five 'phlogging' services available because I find it the easiest to use (and I don't own an iPhone or iPod Touch - yet). There is no mention here of Clickbank or Spymaster which I'm sure many of us using Twittter have reluctantly heard far too much about lately, but it seems it is Ipadio taking a hit after getting on the wrong side of Colt who appears to portray himself as a victim - it's not necessary or relevant to mention those problems as they don't stop you recording or complaining, I almost expect an ambulance chaser to be helping you claim for mental distress! You may question "what has Clickbank or Spymaster got to do with it?" So to clarify, they have annoyed people far more, yet apparently nobody is trying to portray their network marketing strategy as evil or ineffective in the use of social media. Also while I prefer Audioboo I will use Ipadio as well for now to see how they develop the service.*
ColtSeavers almost 4 years ago