DISQUS

Dare Obasanjo · 3 years ago

Do you have the numbers to back up that Flickr is a good business or does the definition of good business simply mean that the founders and early investors recouped their investment?
Mathew Ingram · 3 years ago

Thanks for the comment, Dare. To answer your question, no I don't have any independent numbers to justify my statement that Flickr is a good business -- although I think that recouping the investment of the founders and financial backers is a heck of a lot closer to that goal than lots of other Web-based startups get. They may not be spinning off billions in cash flow, but they have over a million registered users, many of whom are paying cash to be there -- that's a pretty good start, I would think.

Mathew
Mike D. · 3 years ago

One point FOR Flickr being a good business and one point AGAINST:

1. For: Almost every time I look at someone's profile on Flickr who I know, they have a Pro account. Meaning they paid. This is very impressive.

2. Against: Caterina has said -- on at least one occasion that I can remember -- that if she was going to do it all over again, she would have concentrated on the printing aspect of the business, since that's where the money was. I actually think I remember her saying this at a conference about a week before the Yahoo acquisition was announced.
Mathew Ingram · 3 years ago

Thanks, Mike. Those are both good points.