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donna
I'm curious how this will work. Will they fund small apps and not expect them to create different types of revenue streams, just advertising? What does YC think?
nickb
They don't care. For $10m they've just secured their $5B+ valuation. This move is all about PR and getting more apps integrated into their walled garden, to increase their valuation.
donna
thanks for the insight. ;-D
nickb
You're welcome. :)

PS: Hope I'm not being too cynical but I really do believe that this is about protecting their IPO. If you look into who's funding this, you'll see that it's the same people who funded FB. What they just did is better and cheaper than buying an insurance on a $5B property.

breck
They don't plan on an IPO anytime soon. I think this was just a smart move as a response to all the other VC's launching similar things.
rms
Clearly it's a smart move, but does this protect their IPO in any ways other than increasing their valuation?
cellis
for a second there, I thought they were actually launching a bank. Like paypal, but on facebook. Now THAT would be huge.
rms
God, I'd love to start a bank or a currency. That's where all the real money is.
nickb
"Give me control of a nations money and I care not who makes the laws" ~ Meyer Amschel Rothschild

rms
If I can ever take over Equatorial Guinea, the first thing I will do is create a currency backed by Equatorial Guinea's massive offshore oil reserves.
ereldon
Here's to replacing fiat currencies with oil-backed currencies (directly)
rms
Good for them. This solidifies that they'll buy outstanding Facebook applications instead of recreating them internally.
[deleted]
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rms
Yes, you're right. This is at least a step in the right direction.
aston
This is incredible news. Facebook is paying people to be a part of their platform. I thought it was supposed to work the other way around?

edit: At the moment, Facebook seems to be valuable in the same way that Tommy Lee is a celebrity. It's not clear to me how Tommy Lee gained his popularity, and he's not really that interesting in the first place, but he remains popular by continuing to be Tommy Lee. Facebook's using its valuation to raise its valuation even when no actual new value is being created. If the platform were as awesome as everyone believes, Facebook wouldn't need to put their own money/reputation into funding people for it. But maybe I'm missing something.

Dalgar
who is Tommy Lee? oh... Pamela Anderson's ex-husband...

I can think of a couple reasons he is well-known.