Gawker
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facebook
WaPo chief's Facebook board seat a $2 billion consolation prize
Don Graham, the Washington Post CEO, has joined Facebook's board of directors. Had he not been such a nice guy, he might have had the gig three years ago.
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By Owen ThomasComment by BenFremer: That's one of the nicest SV stories I have heard of yet, and ultimately is why Facebook is the only... 3 Responses | Other threads
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facebook
Marc Andreessen to officially join Facebook board this week
Facebook will announce this week that it's brought Silicon Valley wunderkind turned Web 2.0 grumpy grandpa Marc Andreessen onto its board of directors. Andresseen will fill one of the two open seats on Facebook's five-person board. Founder Mark Zuckerberg and investors Peter Thiel and Jim Breyer make up the rest. More »
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Comment by SeattleBuzzKill: Yes, his vast experience of defending against competitors should ensure Facebook being supplanted by MS LiveBook in about 24 months. more » | Other threads
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harvard business school
What's a Harvard b-school degree good for?
The Valley's full of Harvard MBAs, but how much did Harvard Business School graduates learn at Cambridge? "Zero!" Accel's Jim Breyer tells BoomTown's Kara Swisher in this clip, full of similar answers from other Harvard wished-they-were-dropouts. "But," Breyers says, "I made some great friends." One of them, or one like one of them: Greylock's James Slavet, who answers the same question from Swisher with a Cambridge-learned eloquence: "Uh …"
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Comment by testy_westy: In my experience most MBAs from Ivy League schools are much too analytical. They know the theories inside and out,... more » | Other threads
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exits
How Jeff Weiner botched the top job at Facebook
Yahoos are still buzzing about Jeff Weiner's departure for the world of venture capital. Before he left, many of his coworkers thought he was a shoo-in for a CEO gig at Facebook. Now that he's an entrepreneur-in-residence jointly at Accel Partners and Greylock Partners — both investors in Facebook — the conspiracy theorists have changed their patter: Weiner's just in a holding pen until Accel and Greylock can boot founder Mark Zuckerberg, install Weiner as CEO, and take the company public. "Zuck is definitely out ... it's just a matter of time. It's clear as day," one tipster writes. Clear as mud, rather. It makes sense that Yahoos, bitter at Facebook's success and eager to have one of their own deliver a comeuppance to Zuckerberg, would be circulating this rumor. But here's what they don't know about Jeff Weiner and Mark Zuckerberg. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by workingstiff: weird, how can you possibly go wrong with a name like WEINER in this man's world? more » | Other threads
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d6 live coverage
Facebook board member lunches with Mrs. Rupert Murdoch
CARLSBAD, CA — Who are those cool cats in sunglasses at D6? Why, it's Jim Breyer of Accel Partners, a board member at Facebook, lunching with Wendi Murdoch, wife of the News Corp. CEO and chairwoman of MySpace China. Also at the table: Martha Stewart, seen here to the left; Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures; and Anne Wojcicki of 23andMe. -
party report
The future of Jonathan Zittrain (and how to stop it)
Really, I wasn't trying to be posh for the book party Arianna Huffington threw Saturday for Oxford scholar Jonathan Zittrain and his new book, The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It." I pulled up to Larry Ellison's Pacific Heights manse in a black Town Car because that's the only vehicle I was able to flag down in North Beach. Huffington, the pundit turned blog mogul, greeted me at the door and extracted a promise of my best behavior before allowing me in. (One wonders what these people think my worst behavior might be, and if they realize how tempting living down to their expectations is.) More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Rachel Marsden: Jetzt stereotypieren Sie Deutsch. Und mich. :) more » | Other threads
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once you're lucky, twice you're good
B is for Botha, who sold YouTube big
Few people outside Silicon Valley have heard of Roelof Botha. But the former CFO of PayPal is famous here. His two claims to fame: negotiating that company's $1.5 billion sale to eBay, and later, as a partner at Sequoia Capital, investing in YouTube and quickly flipping the startup to Google for $1.65 billion. Is it a coincidence that that figure is 10 percent higher than his PayPal score? Few insiders think so. Botha gets four pages in Sarah Lacy's Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good — more than Google cofounder Sergey Brin. Other figures who appear on the second page of her Web 2.0 book's index: John Battelle, Ning CEO Gina Bianchini, Facebook board member Jim Breyer, blog blowhard Jason Calacanis, and YouTube cofounder Steve Chen, whom Botha made quite wealthy. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by weezle3: "California Pubic Retirement System"? That better not be in the final edition, or the whole source of funds for the... more » | Other threads
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hires
Andreessen to stack Facebook board further in Zuckerberg's favor
Netscape cofounder and propagator of porn social networks Marc Andreessen will join Facebook's board of directors, Kara Swisher reports. Andreessen will join current board members Accel Partners Jim Breyer, Clarium Capital's Peter Thiel, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Andreessen is the chairman of Ning, a company which sells tools for rolling your own social network. If your mom has an excellent visual memory, she will probably remembers him for appearing on the cover of Time magazine without shoes on. You can tell her that he dresses better now, but only slightly. Why Andreessen, and not a proxy for new investors Microsoft or Li Ka-Shing? More »
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Comment by dingdongditch: is it me or is it a picture of a Klingon that had a haircutting accident? more » | Other threads
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nerdspotting
Fraiche Yogurt, Palo Alto's new VC hangout
Forget trying to get a seat, or a power outlet, at Coupa Cafe. The new spot to hang out waiting to meet an investor to fund your Facebook app? Fraiche Yogurt on Emerson Street in Palo Alto. Here's the schtick: Go there and order a $2 cup of custom-brewed Blue Bottle coffee. (The frozen yogurt's okay, but hardly Pinkberry.) Spread out your traffic-stat charts and business plan, then lie in wait to ambush Accel Partners' Jim Breyer, the Facebook board member who's reportedly a frequent Fraicher. Oh, and bring your EVDO card: There's no Wi-Fi. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by flyover: there seem to be a lot more yoga-tastic SV wives there than anything more » | Other threads
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bubble 2.0
Jim Breyer times his bubble-popping just right
Fortune magazine, ever servile, provides a ready platform for the powerful with something to say. The latest on stage: Jim Breyer, the Accel Partners VC with a seat on Facebook's board. Breyer has a fair point: We may be seeing the cyclical bursting of another Silicon Valley bubble. Breyer says this happens once every seven years, roughly. But his timing is suspicious. Last October, Breyer gladly took Microsoft's bubbly $240 million for a microscopic stake in Facebook. Declaring the bursting of a bubble now may help hasten its advent, and in the process, make it harder for Facebook's rivals to raise money. But for Fortune readers' tech-stock portfolios, an early warning might have been more useful. Why didn't the magazine ring him up last fall? Fortune never mentions this. (Illustration by Sean McCabe for Fortune) -
venture capital
VC David Siminoff: "Hollywood people are not stupid"
Accel partner Jim Breyer and Venrock's David Siminoff plan to take money from Hollywood talent agency William Morris and AT&T to form a new fund, according to the New York Times. It will be financed with "tens of millions of dollars" and looks to invest as little as $250,000 in digital-media startups based in Southern California. More »
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Comment by Fetterman_07: I met this guy at a conference. He was the biggest jerk. Some guy from Venrock Partners said that he... more » | Other threads
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deals
Facebook raising $50 million or so, says board member
Yesterday, Accel Partners VC Jim Breyer, who sits on Facebook's board with Peter Thiel and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, made an offhand comment about Facebook's unfinished financing round. Microsoft has already put in $240 million, and Facebook's board has authorized sleepless CFO Gideon Yu to go raise another $260 million. Here's what Breyer said to Silicon Alley Insider: "$50 million, $100 million, $200 million." He said it with a shrug, but we think his insouciance was feigned. That's because Facebook already has a firm commitment in hand for that $50 million Breyer mentioned. The board is still deciding whether to take that money. -
venture capital
Facebook backers team up for an offer startups can't refuse
Back in July, I speculated that Accel Partners VC Jim Breyer might use his position on the Facebook board to strongarm startups developing Facebook apps into taking its money. And sure enough, he's setting up a new fund to do exactly that. But he's cleverly cutting in Facebook itself, as well as fellow board member Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced at TechCrunch40 that his company and its two main backers are forming fbFund, a $10 million pool of money that will invest between $25,000 and $250,000 in Facebook-app startups. As hard to resist as a solo offer from Breyer might be, a check offered by Breyer, Thiel, and Zuckerberg seems irresistible. And more than a little menacing.
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By Owen ThomasComment by Ivan Ivanobrockovich: I love watching high finance people waste money. Facebook "applications" are such a misnomer it hurts. $10,000,000 to fund projects... more » | Other threads
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east vs. west
Boston VC who passed on Facebook trashes the Valley
Would Cambridge-founded social network Facebook have grown into its current role as tech media darling if it had stayed back east instead of seeking its fortune in California, wonders Boston.com? Answer, as supplied by Facebook investor Jim Breyer from Accel Partners: No. As in N-O. No effing way. Nada, etc. Why? Breyer elaborates: ""So many of the Facebook employees have come from top Internet companies like Yahoo, eBay, and Google that the culture that has been built at Facebook is fundamentally more consumer/Internet savvy than if it would've been built anywhere else on the planet." Sounds plausible to us! But bitterly jealous Battery Ventures partner Scott Tobin—who passed when Zuckerberg came to him for startup money— has a different take. "Folks in the Valley are incredibly ego-centric to a point of snobbery" he blithely claims. True enough. But, he goes on to say, passing on Facebook "may turn out to have been a mistake."
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Comment by cv: Yeah, sour grapes it is. This is one VC who should learn to keep his flap shut. more » | Other threads
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stats
A chart of Facebook's revenues
Facebook board members Jim Breyer and Peter Thiel seem to feel free to make up revenue figures for the social network — even though they differ by $50 million — and they just hired a CFO, Gideon Yu, who doesn't seem like he'd be averse to doing the same. So I figured, why shouldn't I join in the fun? Forthwith, Facebook's estimated 2007 revenues, by the thoroughly imaginary numbers. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by OT is Brainless: @Nick Douglas: Pretty sure I see at least 3 of those on just about every page. more » | Other threads
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venture capital
Everything you need to know about the VC panel at today's Fortune iMeme conference, including the sartorial choices of prominent moneymen. (Accel's Jim Breyer wore a CBGB shirt!) [Barrons] -
feuds
Kara Swisher doubts Accel Partners' Jim Breyer has the guts to put the squeeze on Facebook app developers: "My 5-year-old son could handily best the doe-eyed VC in a fair fight." [AllThingsD.com] -
rumormonger
An offer Facebook developers can't refuse
Bay Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, is cutting small checks to startups developing apps on Facebook's F8 platform, VentureBeat reports. Sure, Bay is opportunistically trying to ride on top of the frenzy for apps written specifically for Facebook's user base of 29 million. But Bay's initiative, called AppFactory, is small potatoes compared to what we think Facebook backer Jim Breyer, managing partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners, might be up to. More »
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