Here’s how Facebook should have taken Whatsapp’s users
If Facebook founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg really wanted Whatsapp's 450m users, there may have been an easier way to go around it.
This comment on a Financial Times article suggests that Zuckerberg could just have had Facebook build its own mobile-to-mobile messenger, and saved so much that it would be able to pay all of Whatsapp's users $10 each to switch their allegiances.
couldnt you have saved $15bn here by writing a new app and paying 450 million people $10 to download it and delete whatsapp?
That Facebook didn't go this route is an illustration of how much value there is in acquiring tech startups, rather than just cloning their products. Intellectual property laws are often restrictive, but not so much that Facebook can't just copy the offerings of their rivals.
There is value in the people who've made their products, and what Whatsapp's team can bring to Facebook's portfolio.
And many agree that the deal makes good strategic sense for the social media giant – despite its hefty price tag.