Marketing Nirvana

The guys in the picture above are Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, who have just been inducted into the millionaires’ hall-of-fame, pursuant to their business YouTube being purchased by Google for (hold your breath) $1.65 billion. Wow! For a company that was started after a party, it sure has generated a lot of moolah for a great idea, and is definitely worth it IF YouTube is the future of TV.

Here’s what some really smart people have to say about all this hoopla!

1. Doc Searls: What would YouTube have been worth to Google if the user-generated stuff wasn’t there? (via James Robertson)

2. Brian White: Will Google act like Apple regarding YouTube copyright issues?

3. Washington Post: Here’s what the owners think?

4. Boston Globe: Is this the future of media?

5. Poynter Online: So Google IS really Evil?

Personally, I am not surprised by the acquisition but rather by the cost of acquisition ($1.65 billion!). To put things in perspective, the world’s highest earning celebrity last year was Spielberg who made only $343 million.

The Third Wheel?: Jawed Karim (co-founder YouTube)
Pic Source: New York Times (article)

For a company founded a year and a half ago, staffed by 67 employees, here’s the $$$ breakdown: Sequoia Capital with 30% stake gets around $480 million while founders Steve, Chad and Jawed get anywhere between $100 - $200 million each. Welcome to Silicon Valley’s Hall-of-Fame!

So is this the beginning of a new bubble or is bubble 2.0 ready to burst?