Comments on: Bay Partners Launches Facebook-Apps-Only Fund

By: The New Platform Goldrush Guide: Why You Probably Don’t Want to Build an iPhone App - Widget and Facebook App Development and Design - Metablocks

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:27:19 +0000

[...] VC Funds: Facebook’s fbFund, KP’s iFund (iPhone), Google Ventures, AppFactory – note: probably the most effective “marketing tool” that serves to create the perception [...]

By: Spark Capital Launches Seed Funding Program Start@Spark

Spark Capital Launches Seed Funding Program Start@Spark — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:32:07 +0000

[...] This is not the first program of this type we’ve seen. In fact, it seems like they’re popping up all over the place, conceivably thanks to independent initatives like Y Combinator and TechStars who’ve paved the way. Charles River Ventures debuted its “QuickStart” program back in November 2006, Sequoia simply invested $2 million of its own fund into Y Combinator to give them more runway, and other firms have set up platform-specific seeding funds in the past (e.g. Kleiner Perkins’ iFund and Bay Partners’ Facebook-apps only fund). [...]

By: Kleiner Perkins jumpstarts iPhone Apps industry with $100m Fund » e27 - Discovering Web Innovation in Asia

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:26:36 +0000

[...] There are also other similar, but smaller funds announced to invest in Facebook Apps – $10 million fbFund and a Facebook-only fund from Bay Partners. [...]

By: Facebook Platform, One Year Later

Facebook Platform, One Year Later — Sat, 24 May 2008 08:19:11 +0000

[...] had it installed. Initial results were promising enough that a number of venture capital funds were established solely for Facebook [...]

By: Facebook is a fad and already sucks. « Abhishaken

Facebook is a fad and already sucks. « Abhishaken — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:25:29 +0000

[...] been for lots of my friends. So when I see so many more people joining Facebook and hear about VCs excited about funding Facebook apps, I’m truly surprised. Every time I login, I feel overwhelmed with [...]

By: Kleiner Perkins Anounces $100 million iFund for iPhone Applications

Kleiner Perkins Anounces $100 million iFund for iPhone Applications — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:43:26 +0000

[...] This is in line with similar, if smaller, funds announced to invest in Facebook apps, the $10 million fbFund and a Facebook-only fund from Bay Partners. [...]

By: Bay And Bessemer Add $25 Million In Monetary Muscle Behind Force.com

Bay And Bessemer Add $25 Million In Monetary Muscle Behind Force.com — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:48 +0000

[...] around. Notably, Bay has also invested in Facebook’s platform by setting aside funds for 50 investments (they’ve closed [...]

By: What does the fbFund really mean for Facebook?

What does the fbFund really mean for Facebook? — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:57:14 +0000

What does the fbFund really mean for Facebook?…

So about a week ago Mark Hendrickson at Tech Crunch reported that Facebook (along with a number of high profile VCs) will be launching a $10 million fund for Facebook application developers……

By: fbFund - What does it really mean for Facebook?

fbFund - What does it really mean for Facebook? — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:56:29 +0000

fbFund – What does it really mean for Facebook?…

So about a week ago Mark Hendrickson at Tech Crunch reported that Facebook (along with a number of high profile VCs) will be launching a $10 million fund for Facebook application developers……

By: fbFund - What does it mean for Facebook?

fbFund - What does it mean for Facebook? — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:55:22 +0000

fbFund – What does it mean for Facebook?…

So about a week ago Mark Hendrickson at Tech Crunch reported that Facebook (along with a number of high profile VCs) will be launching a $10 million fund for Facebook application developers……

By: Facebook Launches fbFund with Accel and Founders Fund to Invest in New Facebook Apps

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:45:30 +0000

[...] announcement comes two months after Bay Partners decided to earmark millions of dollars for investment in Facebook applications. Bay Partners’ prospects will [...]

By: Ideas Everywhere » Comparing The World and Facebook

Ideas Everywhere » Comparing The World and Facebook — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:16:48 +0000

[...] major real estate investors and developers including Trump, venture capitalists have chosen to invest in Facebook application developers. Even more interesting are the companies that provide marketing, distribution, and additional [...]

By: The Zone Read » Blog Archive » links for 2007-07-11

The Zone Read » Blog Archive » links for 2007-07-11 — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:22:49 +0000

[...] Bay Partners Launches Facebook-Apps-Only Fund Silicon Valley VC fund Bay Partners has earmarked millions of dollars for investments in startups creating applications for Facebook. The new program, called AppFactory, will be officially launched on Tuesday. (tags: facebook) [...]

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:49:56 +0000

Seems like Bay Partners has a more focused investment strategy after firing Dino Vendetti, Chris Noble, Bob Williams, and Neeraj Choubey.

By: Wayne Porter- Reality Does not a Second Life Make

Wayne Porter- Reality Does not a Second Life Make — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 20:23:26 +0000

Vinny Lingham’s Synthasite and Facebook Funds, Widgets and Social Relevance…

Biz Partner and business visionary Vinny Lingham has launched Synthasite into alpha. I know Vinny, I know he is damn smart (Yeah ok… Kwisatz Haderach smart), and I have high hopes for Synthasite…and while this news is a bit late on my blog-…

By: sputnick

sputnick — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:19:46 +0000

@54 Danny, I agree. Bay Partners are seeking to score. Who can blame them? I blame the climate that goes bananas over anything to do with Facebook. Reminds me of the way people were acting over tamagotchis a few years back.

By: danny

danny — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:37:22 +0000

I think it’s pretty smart, overall. YouTube and Photobucket validated this model for VC’s (these co’s built themselves on the back of MySpace). VC’s aren’t looking for all apps to work, they just need one to hit big. It’s no crazier a bet than half the stuff that gets funded out there, and it’s only a portion of Bay’s overall fund….

By: Mehrdad Piroozram

Mehrdad Piroozram — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:29:05 +0000

I like the strategy of facebook and i like the idea of facebook app funding.
It will work and I think further funds will follow in other eco-systems like myspace.

Cya

By: Alex Notov

Alex Notov — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:56:57 +0000

I think it’s a matter of time before applications that truly center on the highly social aspect of Facebook and, more importantly, provide real value to its users are built. Although it is true that it is not an easy task to “commercialize” the facebook demographic, nothing in business really is. Those that do, and try, will eventually succeed at it. Just as with other investments, Bay Partners is simply positioning themselves nicely for the one or two that will succeed, out of the multitude of submissions they receive. Let us not forget the main reason for a VC firm to invest money… it’s to make money. And, eventually, money they will make… facebook users have credit cards, they just need to be given a reason to take them out.

By: Moshe Maeir

Moshe Maeir — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 23:18:36 +0000

@39 Does monetizing = advertising only? There are plenty of other ways to make money. Loop the user in with an app he likes and gets benefits from. Once he becomes a heavy user and sees the benefits charge for services with real appreciated benefits!

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:50:19 +0000

Nic,

I’ll just amend my last comment to say that I agree with you that there’s a huge potential for targeted advertising here with a much larger-than-usual CPM. I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook itself had model’s of people’s behavior, e.g., who the influencers are in a group of friends, what cars you’re likely to buy, etc.

Still, this data is largely unavailable to app developers in any real way.

Jesse
http://appaholic.com

By: Jesse

Jesse — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:47:17 +0000

Nic,

The advertising prospects aren’t so clear. First, advertising is restricted to canvas pages only. That means you can’t advertise directly on people’s profiles, which is where most impressions are happening for most apps. Many of the really popular apps, e.g., Top Friends, aren’t much more than a profile box.

Second, Facebook’s TOS explicitly forbid the storage of user data outside of Facebook. I cannot, for example, keep a record of a person’s favorite books, though I have access to it. I can re-request it each time a person views a certain page, but this increases the technical complexity.

Third, Facebook severely limits the means by which one can include external resources, even in canvas pages. Javascript can’t exist outside of an iframe, which immediately negates all the contextual possibilities for something like AdSense if you take into account the second point.

Right now I think the best ad strategy people have is finding partners whose existing products align with the app, e.g., an app about travel partnering with Travelocity, or an app about mobile services partnering with a mobile service provider.

Jesse
http://appaholic.com

By: Omar Albacha

Omar Albacha — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 21:02:26 +0000

Facebook is a great and real platform for development, however, I think the Competition would be greater for those who want to start.

By: Jay (living in First Life)

Jay (living in First Life) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:38:14 +0000

Nic,

That is a good point that there are opportunities to target the advertising. There are a couple of obstacles to that:

1. Widgets inherently don’t take up much space meaning that the ability to insert graphical advertising will be difficult. Contextual text advertising may work, but all advertisers know that Google’s Search Ads have much higher ROI than Google’s Contextual Ads on other people’s sites. It’s the difference between hitting someone when they are looking to buy vs. when they are just reading/learning/being entertained.

2. Advertising sales are going to be difficult as well. There are going to be a lot of privacy concerns beyond what Google faced when they did contextual advertising for Gmail.

3. How long will apps stay on someone’s page? There will be a lot of drop-off when the advertising becomes obvious.

By: Wing Yu

Wing Yu — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:34:29 +0000

Jay (comment #38),

I think the target investment is going to be a small startup that has already built version 1.0 with sweat equity, and who’s willing to build version 2.0 with more sweat equity as long as there’s an investor who’s going to help pay for marketing. If you go to the Facebook Developer Community, you will find quite a few entrepreneurs in this boat… Let’s say $150K in marketing buys 25K subscribers which in the right vertical is worth $10 per subscriber per month. That’s a viable business. When the startup matures a bit more, Bay Partners can “merge” it into other portfolio companies.

Of course, there are a lot of “ifs” and risks, but that’s what venture investing is all about…