EDIT : CNBC: FACEBOOK touched offering price of $38/share, but did not fall below due to underwriters’ coming in to support… MORE…
So much for the big 1990′s replay of a new .com era. Facebook’s hyped up IPO skyrocketed 10% then crashed to IPO open level within 45 minutes.
In the 1990′s it was almost expected for shares of a .com or social media company of that era to double, or even triple on IPO day. In this case the IPO opened, shot up 10% then crashed to it’s offering level.
This put many people on guard as it was expected to skyrocket at least longer than 45 minutes.
Enjoy the new reality, launching an IPO, even one as big as Facebook’s during a terrible economy. Perhaps they overpaid for Instagram, maybe they overpaid for a plethoria of startups… but most likely the problem with facebook is that no one on that site clicks on advertising.
In fact the next startup that will most likely go though the roof will be the one that figures out how to advertise properly on the internet or mobile (most likely both with a decent tilt to mobile).
Google got that partially right, and it’s valuation reflects it. Facebook doesn’t get mobile, nor does Microsoft or any of the other players. So there you have it people, the next big thing will be mobile advertising… and figure a way to get people to click and buy from advertisers.
It’s a problem that has been plaguing the internet startup world for 2 decades, and it’s a huge problem that might or might not be solved in short order, the problem is however *most of the online world* is driven by advertising… and if people don’t willfully click in good faith to learn more about a product then even if there are 900 million people online.. you’re still not going to make enough money.