Pavel Durov has always been a figure who stands out in the digital world, known for his strong belief in freedom and privacy. He’s someone who doesn’t back down easily, often finding himself in the spotlight for challenging authority. Durov’s life has been a journey full of determination, where his ideals often clash with those in power.
Durov recently announced in June 2025 that he plans to leave his $17 billion fortune to his future legacy of over 100 children.
He previously made headlines in 2024, not for his tech accomplishments, but for his arrest. This event has sparked fresh debates about the balance between security and freedom online. For Durov, this is just another chapter in his ongoing fight to protect individual rights from government control. Let’s go through his story, which is one of resilience, as he continues to travel through the difficult path of pushing back against the status quo.
Pavel Durov Biography
Name
Pavel Durov
Born
10 October 1984
Birthplace
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Citizenship
Russia, France, UAE, St Kitts and Nevis
Education
Master of Science, Saint Petersburg State University
Position
Co-founder and CEO of Telegram
Net worth
$17.1 billion (June 2025)
Pavel Durov – Early Life and Education
Durov was born in the city of St.Petersburg in Russia in 1984. He had to live in Italy for most of his childhood since his father worked there. Durov left Russia and became a French citizen in 2021, but lives in Dubai.
He had a solid academic background, which paved the way for his entrepreneurial journey in the tech industry. He did his graduation from the Philology Department of Saint Petersburg State University in Russia. His Philology degree was of great help when he started working on social media platforms.
Pavel Durov’s career is a story of innovation, defiance, and international intrigue. He began his rise as a tech entrepreneur by founding VKontakte (VK) in 2006 just when he was in his 20s. VK was Russia’s most popular social networking site which was inspired by Facebook. His ambition to create a free and open internet platform quickly collided with the Russian government’s demand for censorship and control. Since then, Durov has mostly been in the news for standing up against the government in matters of protecting the freedom and privacy of his social media users.
In 2011, he refused to cooperate with the Federal Security Service by blocking opposition groups on VK. This did not sit well with the Government. The pressure on him escalated once again when, during the Russia-Ukraine war in 2014, Russian authorities demanded personal details of some leaders from the opposite side and he refused to provide them. He wasn’t able to withstand the pressure from Russia, leading to his eventual ouster from VK in 2014. The government’s increasing influence over VK’s operations, coupled with direct threats, pushed Durov to sell his stake and leave.
In 2013, Durov launched Telegram, a messaging app focused on security and privacy. This move was both a response to the challenges he faced with VK and a forward-looking project aiming to provide users with a platform free from government surveillance. Telegram’s rise was meteoric, gaining millions of users worldwide, especially after privacy concerns with other platforms like WhatsApp emerged.
As an advocate of privacy, Durov understood that to maintain Telegram’s independence, he needed to be outside the reach of Russian authorities. This led him on a nomadic journey across multiple countries, including Dubai, which became a base for his operations.
In 2018, to build TON, a blockchain system, Pavel and his brother Nikolai gathered $1.7 billion from investors. However, the SEC banned the system, and it was eventually shut down.
Despite the constant challenges, including the blocking of Telegram in Russia in 2018 and the collapse of his TON blockchain project due to U.S. regulatory action, Durov has remained resolute in his mission.
Durov’s global travels are a testament to his commitment to freedom and privacy. After leaving Russia, he visited several countries, including France, Italy, and the UAE, where he has reportedly spent considerable time. His moves were often strategic, seeking jurisdictions that offered both safety and a favorable environment for his work.
This is what he says about his nomadic life,
“I did not want to make the same mistake of relying on a single jurisdiction…..no matter how good a place looks, you don’t know what crazy new regulation they will introduce.”
Pavel Durov comes from a family with a strong academic background. His father, Valery Durov, is a respected scholar and holds a PhD in philology, which significantly influenced Pavel’s early life and education. His mother also contributed to the intellectual environment in which Pavel and his older brother, Nikolai Durov, were raised. Nikolai has played a crucial role in the development of both VKontakte and Telegram, particularly in the technical architecture and coding of these platforms.
Pavel’s family has always emphasized education and intellectual development, which is evident from the achievements of both Pavel and Nikolai. Despite being a public figure due to his business ventures, Pavel Durov has maintained a relatively private personal life.
Pavel’s marital status is single, and he has six children with his three ex-girlfriends.
Durov recently said that he will leave his US$17.1 billion fortune to more than 100 children, including six of his own and many others born through sperm donations.
In a recent interview in June 2025 with French magazine Le Point, Durov said he recently updated his will to include all his children.
“I see no difference between my children, some were born naturally, others through sperm donation,” he explained. “They are all my children and will have equal rights. I don’t want them to fight over my wealth after I’m gone.”
Pavel Durov – Telegram
In 2013, Pavel and his brother silently launched Telegram. It is a cloud-based messaging app known for its strong emphasis on user privacy, security, and speed. Telegram offers end-to-end encryption for secret chats, ensuring that messages are accessible only to the sender and recipient. The app supports a wide range of features, including group chats for up to 200,000 members, channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences, and the ability to send various types of media files.
As of 2023, Telegram boasts over 700 million active users globally, and it continues to be a preferred platform for those who prioritize privacy and freedom of speech.
He was listed in the Forbes World’s Billionaires list 2024.
Facts About Pavel Durov
Durov is often known for his mysterious and mercurial behavior.
He is also known for his weird stunts. In 2012, he grabbed attention by showering high-denomination currency notes on the pedestrians from the VK headquarters.
He is always seen dressed in black.
Durov was seen boasting about his sperm donation, calling it a “civic duty”, making him the biological father of more than a hundred children in many countries.
Pavel Durov – Quotes
💡
Privacy is not for sale, and human rights should not be compromised out of fear or greed.
💡
We support free speech and peaceful protest, but terrorist propaganda has no place on our platform. The success of our ongoing anti-ISIS efforts proves that you don’t have to sacrifice privacy for security. You can – and should – enjoy both.
💡
As soon as one agency gets to uncontrollably monitor private communications, soon enough this access falls into the hands of third parties – bribers, hackers, agents of other countries.
FAQs
Who is Pavel Durov?
Pavel Durov is the Co-founder and CEO of Telegram.
Why was Pavel Durov arrested in France?
Pavel Durov was arrested in France on August 28, 2024, facing multiple charges related to illicit activities conducted through the Telegram app.
Is Pavel Durov married?
Pavel’s marital status is single and he has six children with his three ex-girlfriends.
What is Pavel Durov education, or what did Pavel Durov study?
Pavel Durov studied at Saint Petersburg State University, where he majored in English Philology and Translation. He graduated with honors in 2006. Earlier, he also attended the Academic Gymnasium in Saint Petersburg and began learning programming at age 11, which later played a key role in his tech career.
Is Pavel Durov married?
No, Pavel Durov is not married.
Who are Pavel Durov parents and family?
Pavel Durov’s father, Valery Semenovich Durov, is a Doctor of Philological Sciences and has served as the head of the Department of Classical Philology at Saint Petersburg State University since 1992. His mother, Albina Durova, is a professor at the same institution. Pavel has an older brother, Nikolai Durov, who is a renowned mathematician and computer scientist.
What is Pavel Durov citizenship?
Pavel Durov was originally a Russian citizen but later obtained multiple citizenships. In 2013, he became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis through an investment program. In 2021, he was granted citizenship in both the United Arab Emirates and France.
Which is Pavel Durov birthplace?
Pavel Durov was born on October 10, 1984, in Leningrad, which is now known as Saint Petersburg, Russia.
What is Telegram founder net worth?
Telegram founder, Pavel Durov’s net worth as of June 2025 is $17.1 billion.
If your product is not unique in terms of features, pricing, speed of delivery, etc. you won’t be able to differentiate your product in the market.
For example, you might have to come up with coconut oil that has more medicinal benefits that cost a little bit less than other similar products. That’s a good USP.
Generates Profit
A good product idea comes with a profit margin as well. Your business won’t sustain if it doesn’t generate profit right?
Has a Demand in the Market
Your product should have a demand in the market. If there is no demand, there is no use in making a product.
Compels Customers to Open their Wallets
A lot of products are launched in the market every other minute. But, do all the products bought by the people?
The answer is NO.
Your customers should be compelled to buy your product.
If your product is easy to use and has good aesthetics, long durability, amazing user experience, solid USP and solves the problem of people then you will surely have excellent sales.
With that understood, here are 11 ways to come up with a unique product idea.
The above graph shows the prime obstacles faced in the path of innovation in percentages as per the data shared by viima.com
1. Take Inspiration From Your Own Life
Before scouring the internet, try to analyze what problems you face on a daily basis. Maybe, the problem that you encounter is also being faced by other people.
Make a list of the problems that you or your family members or friends face and try to analyze if you can solve them.
2. Ask Your Customers
If you have existing customers or identified a target audience you can send them survey forms or conduct telephonic or one on one interviews to understand what problems they are facing.
Ask them what could be the potential solution to their problem.
They might not be able to answer this question but, that’s fine because it is your job to come up with innovative product ideas.
You should also ask if they would pay money to resolve it.
If they are not willing to pay money then this problem is not worth solving.
On the other hand, if the problem is very serious and they are willing to pay the money you can start brainstorming product ideas.
Develop a prototype and give it to your customers and ask them if they liked your idea.
If the majority of the people say yes, you are on the right track.
3. Browse Online Consumer Marketplace
Hop over on popular marketplaces and see which products are rapidly selling.
See, what problem the product is trying to solve.
Then go to the review section and analyze what things people liked and disliked about the product.
You may find a major con in the product which you can solve quickly and make the product much better.
Popular consumer marketplaces which you can check are as follows:
Amazon
Flipkart
Etsy
Oberlo
eBay
Alibaba and AliExpress
Walmart
IndiaMART
Pro Tip: You will find gem product ideas in the 1 to 3-star reviews.
Most of the time people who give low ratings describe what went wrong with the product in great detail.
Read these reviews and you will surely understand what things you need to solve in an existing product or you may even get a new product idea.
But, let me tell you that it is the 14th largest social network in the world and has 431 million monthly active users.
As you will see visual content on Pinterest it would be easy for you to get unique product ideas.
5. Hop Over on Quora and Reddit
Reddit Website
Online forums like Quora and Reddit are great places to get new product ideas.
Since there are real people on these platforms with real problems you will get new perspectives.
Just type in your keyword related to your product or business in the search bar and unlock interesting discussions, questions and even solutions.
6. Analyze Product Trends and Discovery Websites
TrendHunter Website
Product trend and discovery websites like Trend Hunter, TrendWatching and PSFK allow you to get data-driven insights into consumer trends, products, consumer experience and more.
You can find trend reports on pretty much every industry. Since these websites have vast information, don’t waste tons of time on these websites.
On these two platforms, you can see how much each project has raised which allows you to get innovative product ideas that are profitable.
8. Follow Industry Leaders
If you have already decided on the industry and niche you would like to be in you can follow industry leaders or emerging entrepreneurs to discover unique insights and product ideas.
9. Use Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends
Google Trends
Type in your product keyword in the Google Keyword Planner and see how many people are searching for this keyword.
Higher the volume, the higher the trend of the product.
Google Trends will tell you how the trend of the keyword was from the past 30 days or even from the past 18 years.
You can even find in which countries and cities the keyword is trending.
This allows you to understand the demographics of your potential target audience.
You can even find search terms that are trending globally and regionally.
10. Analyze Competitor’s Website
Once you know about your product niche and industry you can visit your competitor’s websites and analyze what products they are selling and what are their upcoming launches.
You can understand their USP and pricing model.
Try to make a list of all of your competitors with their unique characteristics and then analyze what is common in all of them and what you can do differently.
11. You Don’t Need a Completely New Idea
It’s not necessary to invent something completely new.
You can make existing products better or combine two different products with different purposes that solve a single problem.
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s stole the idea of selling burgers from two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald who had started a hamburger stand in California.
The two brothers had invented a cooking operation like an assembly line in a factory which allowed them to make burgers within minutes.
Due to this unique cooking method, people were able to order from the window and have their food in minutes rather than waiting in a big queue.
In 2015, Facebook was in big trouble when they were losing its users to Snapchat due to the popular Snapchat Stories feature.
In August 2016, Instagram replicated the same idea and released Instagram Stories. What a unique name!
As you can see from the above examples, you don’t need to make something completely new but, make sure it has a unique USP that beats all of your competitors.
Conclusion
So, here are all the ways through which you can discover product ideas. This is a very crucial stage in your product design journey.
Always remember that your product should help people solve their problems. It should make the life of your customers easier and happier.
Make sure that your product idea has demand in the market and people are willing to pay money for it.
This is just a start!
From validating the product idea to prototyping, testing, manufacturing, funding and finally selling the product there are so many things that you need to consider while designing a product.
FAQs
How do you come up with innovative product ideas?
There are more than a single way to get innovative product idea. Some of them include learning the latest trend, knowing the need of the hour, enhancing an already existing product into something better, etc.
What are the five important sources of new product ideas?
The idea can be derived from many places. Some of the most common five sources are customers, competitors, trends, changes in industry or market structure and influencers.
Where do companies get ideas for new products?
Some of the common ways through which companies get their ideas for new products are market search, customer feedback, brainstorming, customer demand, etc.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Twitter.
Updating the status of the current scenario is one of the leading trends followed by today’s generation. The same trend allows people to describe their days, habits, thoughts, and any important message on a larger scale with the help of social media. There are multiple social media platforms available on the web to take the habit on. One amongst them is a bluebird icon platform called Twitter.
Twitter is a microblogging platform along with a place where people can easily interact and share their thoughts in the form of tweets. Initially, it was invented with the thought of sending an SMS to a group of people. Now Twitter stands at the rank of 16th position in the category of most popular social networking sites globally.
Twitter was set to be acquired by Elon Musk, according to the news dated April 26, 2022. He had previously announced a deal worth $44 billion to acquire a majority of Twitter’s stake and make it private. This had valued each share of Twitter at $54.20, at which Musk valued them. However, later, the deal, which was said to be on hold, had actually been pulled by Elon Musk, and the Twitter team was all set to sue him. Twitter actually sued Elon Musk, as per reports dated July 13, 2022, on Delaware’s Court of Chancery. The social media giant reportedly accused Musk of “hypocrisy” in court on July 12, 2022. The judgement that was pending from the Court of Chancery was ruled in favour of Twitter, who was then asked to force the completion of the deal.
After an almost seven-month-long saga of various business and legal conflicts, finally, on October 27, 2022, Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter and appointed himself as the new CEO of the company.
The journey covered by Twitter from its start till now is commendable. This article highlights all essential aspects of Twitter such as its business model, revenue model, competitors, funding, and more in the form of the Twitter success story.
Twitter is an America-based microblogging platform founded in the year 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass. Twitter has evolved as a social media platform cum microblogging platform giving out information on a range of topics.
People can easily interact with each other based on their interests and can also tweet on the platform to share their thoughts with a larger audience. Twitter was founded by a failed podcasts producing company named Odeo. Earlier it was termed as Twttr and then changed to the name, which is currently written as Twitter.
Twitter has more than twenty-five offices across the world. Tweets used to be originally restricted to 140 words, but in November 2017, the maximum for non-CJK languages was lifted to 280 words. Video and audio tweets are still limited to 140 secs over most profiles.
Both, as a sender and a receiver, Twitter is easy to use. You may easily join this platform with a free basic account and a Twitter handle or unique username. Then, on a daily, hourly, or as-needed basis, you may send out broadcasts, often known as “tweets.”
In the “What’s Happening” box beneath your profile picture, input 280 words or less, then click the Tweet button to post your tweet. Those who follow you and maybe those who do not will see your tweet if your account is public.
You can follow anyone, including celebrities and your favourite influencers, by selecting follow button on their profile to subscribe to their tweets on Twitter. You can simply unfollow them if their tweets aren’t as entertaining as you thought. Visit Twitter.com at any time of day or night to see your Twitter feed, which is updated as people tweet. Look at what’s trending to see what’s going on around the globe. That’s all there is to Twitter.
Twitter – Industry
Twitter belongs to the largest growing industry, the internet. The internet industry deals with the integration and linking of big data, analytical tools, and a wireless network. The industry is leading the way for a big change in the future due to more and more usage of internet-based platforms.
It provides a way for multiple activities to take place without the need for physical appearance. Some of the popular day-to-day activities seen by the internet industry are microblogging, social media, advertising, etc. The future of the Industry can be assumed as bigger, faster, and safer internet growth.
A social networking site is an online platform that allows users to develop social networks or connections with others who have similar professional or personal hobbies, interests, experiences, or legitimate connections. Social media is currently used by more than half of the world’s population (58.4%).
Around the world, 4.62 billion individuals use social media, with 424 million new users joining in 2021. Every day, people spend an average of 2 hours and 27 minutes on social networking sites. The emergence of social media has been fueled by the human tendency to connect, as well as advances in digitalization. It’s a story about large-scale personal friendships being formed and nurtured.
The market size of social media is growing exponentially with the estimated calculation for the US market size in 2022 to be $72.2 billion. Total growth of 15.6% is noted in the US for the social media market. As for the future, according to a report published by statista.com, over 4.41 billion users are expected to use social media by the year 2025.
Microblogging stands for the combination of instant messaging combined with content production. It differs from the natural blogging industry of the limited size of the content delivery. Microblogs include content with specific data ranges. They can be in the form of short videos, audio, or simple texts. The microblogging industry is not up to mark and is in a constantly evolving stage. It is emerging as one of the fastest-growing industries.
Twitter – Founders and Team
Twitter was not founded by a single person or by the efforts of one person. It took a whole group of four people to get together and launch a microblogging platform.
Jack Dorsey
Jack Dorsey – Co-Founder of Twitter
Jack Patrick Dorsey born on November 19, 1976, and a native of the United States was the former CEO of Twitter. He was born and brought up in St. Louis, Missouri, where he went to complete his schooling too. He started programming while being a student only due to his unavoidable interest in programming and computer communication.
He completed his schooling at Bishop DuBourg High School. He was more than interested in the logistics and their working methods. At the age of 15, Jack Dorsey created a dispatch software that was still in use by many taxicab companies for a longer period.
To get a degree, Jack Dorsey went to the University of Missouri. However, due to some unavoidable reason, he was transferred to the University of New York, which he dropped from six months of getting the hold of his degree.
Jack Dorsey instead went to Oakland, California, and started a company offering dispatch software by the medium of the Internet in the year 2000. While working on the dispatch software, he came up with the idea of having a platform that combines instant messaging with his dispatch software for ease.
With the same thought, Jack Dorsey approached the company named Odeo. After successful talks and some work, in 2006 Twitter was launched successfully with the first tweet done by Jack Dorsey stating “just setting up my Twitter.
In the year 2010, Jack Dorsey co-founded a small business platform that accounts for debit and credit card payments on a mobile device named Square now changed to Block. Jack Dorsey serves as the CEO of Square. In 2021, the name Square was changed to Block to show interest in Blockchain. The former CEO also stepped down from the Twitter board on May 25, 2022. It was noted that Jack Dorsey had planned to leave the board when he chose to step down from the CEO position, however, the company mentioned in a statement that Dorsey would be staying on the board “until his term expires at the 2022 meeting of stockholders.”
Noah Glass
Noah Glass – Co-founder of Twitter
The American Technology Entrepreneur Noah Glass is one of the co-founders of Twitter. He was the co-founder of a failed company called Odeo.
Odeo was a podcasting company that failed after a few years of work and somehow gave rise to what we call today Twitter.
Noah Glass was known to work on multiple projects before founding a podcast company. He was known to work at Industrial Light and Magic. He left work from there to join and co-work with Marc Canter.
Marc Canter was the founder of Macromind. After that, Noah Glass developed an application named AudBlog which earned a partnership with Evan Williams. Together they created the podcasting company named Odeo.
In 2006, while working on Odeo and its failing future, the basic idea for Twitter was invented.
Noah Glass is highly acknowledged for giving the name “Twitter” to the newly developed platform with an abbreviated name “Twttr”. Noah Glass is considered a forgotten Twitter co-founder who gave a few essential core features and ideas in the development of the platform.
Biz Stone
Biz Stone – Co-founder of Twitter
Co-founder of Twitter named Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone was born on March 10, 1974. Biz Stone completed his graduation from Wellesley High School in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He then attended Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Boston but without getting a degree at both place.
In the year 1999- 2001, Biz Stone was recorded to serve as a creative director at Xanga. For the year 2003-2005, Biz Stone was given the title of senior leadership at Google. In 2006, Biz Stone rolled out Twitter along with other co-founders and holds a patent to Twitter.
In the year 2014, Biz Stone launched a new search engine named Jelly. Jelly was a search engine driven by factors of visual imagery and discovery. Stone served as CEO of Jelly till the time it was acquired by Pinterest. In 2017, Biz Stone showed intention to return to Twitter.
A few Awards and Recognition of Biz Stone would include:
International Center for Journalists Innovation Award
Listed as One of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time
Nerd of the Year by GQ
Innovation Award by The Economist
Evan Williams
Evan Williams – Co-founder of Twitter
The fourth Co-founder of Twitter Evan Williams was born on March 31 1972 in Clarks, Nebraska. He went to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for just one and a half years and left with no degree. Evan Clark Williams went out to work at different technology jobs after leaving college. He went to places like Florida, Texas, etc before returning to his family farm.
In 1996, Evan Williams went on to work at O’Reilly Media in a marketing position. Further, in the same firm, he got the promotion to work as an independent contractor writing computer code. This opportunity gave him the chance to work as a freelance coder and he took happily to work at different popular companies such as Intel and Hewlett-Packard.
While working at O’Reilly Media, Evan Williams started his website to post his thoughts. In the year 1999, Evan Williams along with Meg Hourihan co-founded an initial blogging software named Pyra Labs. In 2005, Evan Williams along with Noah Glass went on to co-found a podcast company named Odeo. In 2006, Evan Williams along with other co-founders gave rise to social media platform named Twitter. In 2012, Evan Williams led to the launch of a publishing platform named Medium.
A few Awards and Recognition for Evan Williams are:
In 2003, Evan Williams was given the recognition of MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators of the World under the age of 35.
In 2004, he received the Recognition of “People of the Year” by PC Magazine.
Twitter consists of 7000+ Tweeps (July 2022). Twitter employees are given the special tag “Tweep”. Just the way messages posted on Twitter are called tweets, the person working for Twitter is termed a Tweep. The journey that Twitter is remarkable indeed. Looking back at the initial days, Twitter only had 8 employees back in January 2008.
Here’s checking out the gradual expansion of the Twitter workforce:
Twitter is one of the successful platforms for now. However, the origin of Twitter lies in the ashes of another failed startup. The idea behind starting an instant messaging platform was taken from Jack Dorsey. And the name for the platform was given by Noah Glass.
When Jack Dorsey was pursuing his bachelor’s at NYU, he proposed the idea of a person using an SMS service to connect with a small group. The service’s initial project code name was twttr, another variant of the term twitter, an idea credited to Noah Glass and inspired by Flickr and the five-character length of American SMS shortcodes. The choice was also affected by the fact that the URL twitter.com had been in use when twttr was launched, and it took the team 6 months to acquire the site and convert the company’s name to Twitter.
The year 2007 was a watershed moment for Twitter’s evolution. During the episode, Twitter traffic increased from 20,000 to 60,000 tweets per day. Twitter began rolling out “New Twitter” in September and October 2010, a totally overhauled version of the site.
The possibility to see videos and pictures without exiting Twitter by tapping on individual tweets that contain links to photographs and videos from a wide range of supported websites such as YouTube and Flickr, as well as a total revamp of the interface that moved links such as ‘@mentions’ and ‘Retweets’ above the Twitter stream, while ‘Messages’ and ‘Log Out’ became accessible via a black bar at the top of twitter.com.
Twitter – Acquisition by Elon Musk
Elon Musk – CEO of Twitter
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is a prominent global entrepreneur, declared on April 4, 2022, that he had acquired 9.1% stakes in Twitter for $2.64 billion. As a consequence, Twitter’s shares rose as high as 27%, marking the largest day rise since the firm’s Offering in the year 2013.
Elon was granted a seat on Twitter’s management board committee as part of a contract that prohibited him from owning more than 14.9% stakes in the corporation, but he refused before his participation went into effect on April 9.
On April 14, Musk made an unexpected bid to buy Twitter for $43 billion and make it private, claiming that he stood for the value of free expression for global democracy. On April 15, Twitter’s board of directors approved a tactic that would enable shareholders to buy additional shares in the case of a truculent takeover, preventing Musk’s invasion.
On April 20, Musk got $46.5 billion in a deal offer to buy Twitter. On April 25, it was reported that Twitter was preparing to approve Musk’s bid, and the board members officially authorized the deal, which became $44 bn shortly after on the same day.
Musk has stated that his first goal in promoting openness is to open-source the system that promotes tweets in the content stream. He has indicated that he intends to eliminate spambots and verify all legitimate people. However, the deal was still on hold, as per May 2022 reports. Twitter had declared that it was facing recurring challenges with spam and fake accounts soon after Elon Musk thought it fit to acquire the platform. This is what Twitter is investigating currently, where it is checking whether the existing spam/fake accounts represent less than 5% of Twitter’s users. On the other hand, Musk was still reported to be “committed to acquisition.” As per the reports dated June 9th, 2022, Elon Musk has threatened the social media giant to blow up the deal over the bot issue. Soon after this, reports mentioned that a Twitter stakeholder wanted a judge to order the microblogging site to turn over internal papers that would prove the existing spam and fake accounts on Twitter. The Twitter acquisition deal of Elon Musk worth $44 bn had been unanimously approved by the Twitter board on June 21, 2022. However, along with it, there were uncertainties about whether that will happen because Twitter share prices have dipped far below Musk’s offered price. Besides, Musk had also mentioned some unresolved issues concerning the debt and the spam and fake Twitter accounts, which he had doubted that they were not less than 5% of the monetisable daily active users.
Elon Musk had then decided to abandon the Twitter acquisition, as mentioned in reports dated July 9, 2022. Twitter, in return, then mentioned that it will sue Musk and is determined to see the deal go through, by hook or by crook. Also, by the mutual agreement between the two parties, both Musk and Twitter agreed to impose a fine on either of the parties if they chose to back out from the deal. This stood valid, in case Musk decides finally to terminate the deal. He did back out from the deal, and eventually, Twitter sued him in the Court of Chancery, Delaware. The case was presided over by Kathaleen McCormick as the chief judge, who asked to complete the deal by force, thereby standing by Twitter. Now, the deal can either be completed or pushed further. The legal battle in this colossal acquisition deal is already at its climax!
Twitter proposed that it would conduct a meeting of the shareholders on September 13, 2022, and would vote on the proposed $44 billion takeover of the social media company by billionaire Elon Musk. At this meeting, Twitter would also have shareholders vote on the approval of the compensation that Twitter would extend to some of its executive officers.
On October 3, Musk’s legal team informed Twitter that he was ready to complete his planned acquisition deal at the original price offer of $54.20 per share, a total cost of nearly $44 billion, reversing a months-long attempt to end the agreement.
On October 27, Elon Musk finally closed the deal to acquire Twitter, becoming the new owner of the social media giant. Immediately after the takeover, he fired top executives of the company, including Parag Agrawal (CEO), Ned Segal (CFO), and Vijaya Gadde (legal affairs and policy chief).
As a part of the many changes coming after the acquisition, Musk recently announced that Twitter will charge users $8 per month for a blue tick on Twitter. This decision has been criticised by many users, but Musk does not seem to have any plans to take it back.
Twitter’s mission statement says, “The mission we serve as Twitter, Inc. is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers. Our business and revenue will always follow that mission in ways that improve – and do not detract from – a free and global conversation.”
Vision- “To be the world’s most diverse and inclusive company”.
Twitter – Name, Tagline, and Logo
Name
The initial meaning of the name Twitter means “a short burst of inconsequential information” or “chirps from birds”.
The initial thought for the name was “status”. However, after going through the Dictionary, Jack Dorsey came across the name Twitter and instantly liked its definition. As he felt, the definition of the word is what they were doing. However, the domain under the name Twitter was not available for purchase and they have to go with its abbreviated version.
After six months of launch, the domain name Twitter was purchased and the platform was renamed. The credit behind naming Twttr and Twitter goes to Noah Glass.
Tagline
Discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.
Logo
Twitter Logo
The original name of the Twitter Bird is “Larry The Bird”. The bird was named after the basketball player Larry Bird. Biz Stone can be said as the major reason behind selecting the logo for Twitter. He studied at a school outside Boston and hence had the same craze for basketball players who won three NBA championships for three years from 1981-to 1986. In the year 2012, the bird was given a haircut and started resembling a mountain bird.
The current logo of Twitter consists of a blue-coloured bird on white background with no text attached to it.
Twitter – Business Model
The business model of Twitter is a platform business model. A platform business model can be defined as a business model that creates value by facilitating exchanges between two or more two people and groups of people, especially in the case of consumers and producers. The majority of social media works on the same platform.
Twitter has the same working pattern as other social media platforms. The user needs to register with a username and password for the use of Twitter. Unregistered users can also use Twitter but only to read tweets. Only registered users are allowed to tweet on its platform. A registered user can share text with 280 characters or a video of 140 seconds with a size ranging not more than 1 GB.
Twitter allows its users multiple benefits such as the user can make their thoughts reach a global audience. The advertisement done on it can also reach a large audience. The data partners can easily search and navigate information from Twitter to create insights.
Twitter currently generates revenue primarily through ad campaigns and data licensing. Twitter is continuing to expand its current income streams while also experimenting with new potential revenue streams from users and companies. The firm believes that its revenue channels may continue to develop at a quick pace, and it plans to double its revenues in 2022.
Twitter’s business model is created in a way that allows advantages to its users, advertisers, and data partners.
Twitter – Revenue Model
Twitter Revenue Worldwide from 2010 to 2021
The annual revenue of Twitter for FY2021 was noted to be $5.77 billion. There was a whopping increment of 36.63% in revenue from the year 2020.
The Twitter revenue model helps the social media giant generate revenue in two ways –
Data licensing accounts for around 14% of Twitter’s income. In 2020, this will account for around $509 million, up from 9.2% in 2019. Subscriptions to public data are sold to organisations and developers under this income stream. The information gives both historic and current insights into user demographics and platform trends.
The majority of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising. Advertising accounts for over 86% of the company’s revenue. Promoted Ads, Follower Ads, and Trend Takeovers are examples of advertising. On the stream, all adverts are always labelled “Promoted.” Advertisers buy Promoted Ads to get their product or service in front of a larger audience of Twitter users. Follower Ads propose new Twitter accounts for you to follow based on your interests, so you’ll see Promoted Ads from people you follow. Trend Takeovers place advertisements next to trending issues to generate views based on what is most trendy and interesting on Twitter. The cost of Twitter advertisements varies. A sponsored tweet might cost somewhere between $0.50 and $2 for every action, while a promoted account can cost anywhere between $2 and $4 per new follower. Promoted trends may cost up to $200,000 per day if they are linked with the most popular subjects on Twitter.
Twitter – Funding and Investors
Twitter has raised a total of $12.9 billion in funding over 15 rounds.
Date
Transaction Name
Money Raised
Lead Investors
June 1, 2022
Post-IPO Equity
–
Greenlight Capital
May 4, 2022
Post-IPO Equity
$7.2B
–
Mar 4, 2022
Post-IPO Equity
$2.9B
Elon Musk Revocable Trust
Mar 1, 2021
Secondary Market
$1.3B
–
Dec 20, 2011
Venture Round
$300M
Alwaleed Bin Talal
Sep 8, 2011
Secondary Market
$400M
–
Aug 2, 2011
Series G
$400
DST Global
Feb 9, 2011
Secondary Market
$80M
–
Dec 15, 2010
Series F
$200M
Kleiner Perkins
Jan 8, 2010
Series E
$5.2M
–
Twitter – Investments
Twitter has made 10 investments throughout the years. Here’s looking at them below:
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
Feb 8, 2022
OpenNode
Series A
$20M
Jan 11, 2022
Aleph Holding
Corporate Round
–
Oct 7, 2021
Alter
Seed Round
$3M
Apr 8, 2021
ShareChat
Series E
$502M
Sep 24, 2020
ShareChat
Series E
$40M
Sep 2, 2020
Skillz
Post-IPO-Equity
$159M
Aug 15, 2019
ShareChat
Series D
$100M
June 2, 2017
PlaySight Interactive
Series C
$11M
Oct 1, 2014
MIT Media Lab
Grant
$10M
Oct 18, 2010
Overdrive
Private Equity Round
–
Twitter – Acquisitions
Twitter has acquired about 67 organizations. Here’s a glance at the most recent acquisitions made by Twitter:
Acquiree Name
About Acquiree
Date
Amount
OpenBack
OpenBack offers a push notification platform designed to deliver personalized notifications in order to increase engagement.
Apr 12, 2022
–
Quill
Quill is a computer software company that provides a messaging software built for productivity, not engagement.
Dec 7, 2021
–
Threader
Compile your favorite Twitter threads in one place
Nov 15, 2021
–
Sphere (Acquired by Twitter)
Now part of Twitter! Sphere is a community chat app turns groups into close, vibrant, purposeful and productive communities, instantly!
Oct 19, 2021
–
Brief
Brief is to foster healthy discourse by rethinking the way we read the news.
Jul 28, 2021
–
Scroll
Scroll is creating a sustainable experience that puts amazing content in front of engaged users without all the noise.
May 4, 2021
–
Reshuffle
Reshuffle is an open source integration framework that lets developers build workflows & connect systems.
Mar 24, 2021
–
Revue
Revue is a developer of an editorial newsletter tool designed to build a direct relationship with the readers.
Jan 26, 2021
–
UENO.
UENO is an operator of a digital design agency that specializes in designing and building products, brands, and experiences.
Jan 6, 2021
–
Breaker
Breaker is an audio company that develops a podcast listening and discovery application.
Jan 4, 2021
–
Twitter enjoys 237.8 million monetizable DAU (Q2 2022). Twitter measures its user base by the metric called monetizable daily active users (mDAU). monetizable daily active users (mDAU) is defined as the total number of user accounts that were logged in and accessed Twitter on any given day.
If you’ve used Twitter for a long time, you must be well aware that not everybody has noble motives. Sadly, whether you’re a regular citizen or a well-known personality, many users face a deluge of hate in their comments daily.
Twitter has made efforts to combat abuse, to be sure. Users can, for example, filter the mention that they see. Furthermore, in 2021, Twitter launched “Safety Mode,” which allows you to temporarily ban profiles that use abusive language or post inappropriate comments.
Nonetheless, there is indeed a considerable distance to cover until harassment and bullying are no longer prevalent on the platform. Agrawal, the CEO of Twitter said that his main focus will be to combat this problem. On Twitter, misinformation spreads rapidly, and preventing this requires a collaborative effort from both the company and its users.
Twitter is yet one of the most trendy and popular social media platforms in today’s world. However, in recent years, it has experienced stiff competition from apps like TikTok. While it has initiated several advancements, it also needs to look beyond the box.
The firm still has a sizable customer base and a valuable offering. However, Twitter’s income increased by just 7% in 2020, to $3.7 billion. This amounted to $26 million in operational profit. COVID-19 undoubtedly contributed to Twitter’s profits, but others may claim that the network has done very little development in an intensely challenging social media world.
Twitter, ever since the social media platform has been founded, has witnessed its own share of challenges and mishaps. Twitter was down on Friday, February 11, 2022, due to a global outage. This was really a piece of big news, which prevented thousands of Twitter users from accessing their accounts.
The Twitter accounts of Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Barrack Obama, were hacked in a cryptocurrency scam. Late on Wednesday, July 15, 2020, there were irrelevant Tweets about cryptocurrency by Famous twitter personalities. This left some users baffled.
It turned out that the Twitter accounts of these personalities were compromised. However, users soon realized that it wasn’t just these accounts, but the Twitter accounts of Jeff Bezos, Kayne West, and many famous personalities were also compromised. While these types of scams are fairly common the question that arose was how these hackers gained access to high-profile Twitter accounts.
Nearly two hours after the hack, Twitter locked down and prevented at least some verified accounts from posting any tweets. After their first tweets were deleted the same bitcoin scam tweets were made again from the official accounts of Bill Gates, Obama, and high-profile personalities.
Twitter’s Response to the Hack
We detected what we believe to be a coordinated social engineering attack by people who successfully targeted some of our employees with access to internal systems and tools, said Twitter support.
Twitter Layoffs
While Twitter was upset about its shareholding pattern, hardly could anticipate its acquisition, and then nodded for the same, but was in trouble with its spam and fake accounts, the popular Twitter social media platform parted with 30% of its recruiting workforce, which was less than 100 employees, as far as reports go, dated July 7, 2022.
Just a week after the company’s takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter laid off 3,700 people, which accounts for nearly 50% of its workforce.
Twitter – Competitors
Twitter has several Competitors in the same industry but all with different features. Some of them are:
Facebook is an American online social media and social networking Service owned by Meta Platforms, formerly known as Facebook. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. Facebook enjoys 2.85 million active users per month (31 March 2021).
Pinterest
Pinterest is an image-sharing and social media service platform headquartered in San Francisco. It was invented in 2009 by Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp, and Ben Silbermann. Pinterest is an image discovery tool mainly consisting of pins and boards. Pinterest currently enjoys 431 million active users globally (February 2022).
Snapchat
Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app. It was introduced by Snap Inc in the year 2011. Snapchat is more popular for its ability to share images and videos with the addition of filters. Snapchat enjoys active users of about 319 users per year (2021).
Twitter – Future Plans
Twitter has more activity than any other social media platform right now. A few months ago, the microblogging site famed for its 280-character restriction attempted to relaunch itself with a slew of new features while maintaining its distinguishing qualities.
Twitter has also shown social responsibility by installing powerful measures to keep fake news and hate speech out of its virtual debates, with even former US President Donald Trump being banned.
Twitter is continually improving while also introducing new features like Spaces and Super Follows. When it comes to advertising, Twitter will be pushing performance marketing ahead in a big way. The company also wants to increase the number of technologies and marketing alternatives available to both major brands and small and medium enterprises.
Twitter wants to double the number of its active users till the time of 2023. The Twitter team wants Twitter as a safe platform where people can easily share their thoughts without the worry of backlash or similar uncertainty. Twitter also plans to expand its marketing performance with better innovation and ad creation.
Twitter plans to increase its daily users to 315 million users and the revenue to be at least $7.5 billion by the year 2023. Twitter plans to launch new features for more users to gain its attention.
After acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk is taking drastic actions for the company, like mass layoffs and implementing a charge for a blue-tick verification mark. Now, only time will tell what other future plans Musk has for Twitter.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Facebook.
In the world of digitalisation, there are only a handful of people who are not on this social media platform, Facebook. Although the company, Facebook, began as a social network for particular college students, it has now evolved into an important tool for day-to-day socialising and business professionals.
As a small company owner, Facebook may be precisely what you need to find potential workers, get new clients, or see what your competitors are up to. And doing so – browsing content on Facebook– does not need creating your new Facebook profile.
Facebook is an American online social networking website owned by Meta Platforms. Mark Zuckerberg, along with other three Harvard University undergraduates, launched Facebook in 2004. Facebook is free to use, yet ads on the platform provider for the bulk of the gross profitability. Members may establish accounts, upload photos, join established communities, or start their own.
Facebook’s popularity stems in part from creator Mark Zuckerberg’s insistence from the beginning that members be truthful regarding who they really are, as phoney pages are just not permitted.
According to the company’s business, transparency is necessary for developing interpersonal relationships, exchanging information and recommendations, and strengthening society as a whole. It also noted that the bottom-up, peer-to-peer networking of Facebook users makes it easier for businesses to connect with customers about their services and goods.
Know more about the Meta-owned company, Facebook, and how it is helpful to us, its business model, startup story, and much more by reading this article further.
Facebook – Company Highlights
Startup Name
Facebook
Parent
Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook, Inc)
Headquarters
Menlo Park, CA
Industry
Social Media Platform
Founders
Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
Facebook, a US-based online social media and social networking website is owned by Meta Platforms. The site’s features include Timeline or wall, a section on the user’s homepage where users can post content and friends can send messages, Status, which allows users to notify friends of their current location or set of circumstances, and News Feed, which notifies users of changes to their friends’ statuses and profiles.
Through Facebook, the users can communicate with one another and send and receive messages. Besides, they can also signal their approval for posts and comments on Facebook using the Like button, which can also be seen on many other websites.
In 2006, Facebook allowed anybody above the age of 13 to join, expanding its enrolment beyond students. Advertisers were able to develop new and successful consumer connections, just as Zuckerberg expected.
In October 2021, Facebook announced that its parent business will be renamed Meta Platforms. The name change signalled a shift in focus to the “metaverse,” an augmented reality realm in which people would participate. The Meta Platform now includes Facebook, the social networking platform.
Facebook – Industry
Customers can engage, produce, and share material and information through the social media market, which is made up of sales by entities (organizations, single traders, or partnerships). Social media platform users can exchange photos, videos, and audio clips.
This market generates revenue from advertising sales and other services provided through social networks. Advertising on social media and social media subscriptions are two different segments of the social media business.
The worldwide social media industry is predicted to increase at an annual pace (CAGR) of 39.7% from $159.68 billion in 2021 to $223.11 billion in 2022.
Businesses are reforming their operations and recovering from the effects of COVID-19, which had previously culminated in restrictive measures such as social distancing, the closure of commercial firms, and remote work, all of which caused operational challenges. Growing at a CAGR of 39%, the market is estimated to reach $833.50 billion in 2026.
With 46% of the global social media market in 2020, Asia Pacific was the most important region. The 2nd-largest area, North America, accounted for 32% of the worldwide market. Africa was identified as the fastest-growing region in the social media market between 2020-2021.
Facebook – Name, Logo, and Tagline
Facebook Logo
According to David Kirkpatrick’s book The Facebook Effect, the name Facebook was picked because every Harvard student was given one of these, which held images of their classmates and were referred to as Facebook.
A majority of the American university students received face book directories, which consisted of individuals’ names and photos and were distributed among the university students to help them know each other. This is where the name “Facebook” came from, the sole aim of which is to connect people with their friends and family via its social media platform. The small F sign on Facebook’s site is considered to represent the name Facebook.
Facebook’s tagline used to be, “It’s Free and Always Will be” which was changed to, “It’s Quick and Easy.” It was changed silently between 6th and 7th August 2019, and Facebook didn’t clarify the reason why.
Facebook – Founders and Team
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
Co-founder and current CEO of Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is an American businessman, media personality, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Meta Platforms, Inc. (previously called Facebook, Inc.), where he currently serves as chairman, CEO, and dominant shareholder. He is also a co-founder and board member of Breakthrough Starshot, a solar sail spacecraft development initiative.
Andrew McCollum
Andrew McCollum joined Philo, an entertainment-focused OTT streaming service, as CEO in 2014. Philo debuted countrywide in November 2017. Andrew was on Philo’s board of directors, supervised the company’s co-founders, and was one of the company’s early investors before becoming CEO.
Andrew was a member of the founding team of Facebook before joining Philo, and he has a long-standing interest in the social design of products. Following Facebook, Andrew worked as an Entrepreneur in Residence at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Flybridge Partners, two of Philo’s investors. He is still an active angel investor and counsellor in the early stages of a company’s development.
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes (November 26, 1983) is an American entrepreneur who co-founded and served as spokesperson for the online social networking and directory site Facebook with his Harvard companions. He was the editor-in-chief and publisher of The New Republic from 2012 until 2016. As of 2019, Hughes is a co-chair of the Economic Security Project.
Dustin Moskovitz
Dustin Moskovitz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Asana. He co-founded Good Ventures and the Open Philanthropy Project. He is also one of the co-founders of Facebook.
Eduardo Saverin
Eduardo Saverin is a B Capital Group co-founder and partner. Saverin is a co-founder of Facebook and the initial investor. Saverin is eager to put money into the next wave of technical developments. He has counselled and worked closely with an array of firms of different kinds and stages as a technology investor and supervisor, all of which share one consistent theme: a love for people-centric technology, as well as a mobile platform lean with pan-global ambitions.
The Facebook team last registered 71,970 full-time employees in December 2021.
Facebook – Startup Story
Facebook, a social networking website, was established on October 28, 2003, as “FaceMash” before rebranding as “The Facebook” on February 4, 2004. It was established by Mark Zuckerberg and his Harvard University classmates. The website’s designers initially limited membership to Harvard students.
Nonetheless, it was gradually expanded to include additional Boston-area colleges, the Ivy League, and finally most universities in the United States and Canada, businesses, and, by September 2006, everyone over the age of 13 with a valid email account.
In September 2004, the Wall was added to a Facebook user’s online profile. This widely used feature allowed a user’s friends to post information to their Facebook wall, and it rapidly became an important part of the social aspect of the network. Facebook had gained one million active members by the end of 2004. However, the firm was still lagging behind Myspace, the top online social network at that time, with five million users. Nevertheless, in the long run, MySpace failed to compete against Facebook.
2005 was a momentous occasion for the company. It was then that the idea of “tagging” people in photographs posted to the site was born. Tags were used to identify themselves and others in photos that were viewable to other Facebook friends. Facebook users can upload an unlimited amount of photos but the facial recognition feature of Facebook, which tagged the persons on the photograph earlier, is not there anymore now.
Outside of the United States, high school and university students were allowed to join the ‘Facebook army’ in 2005. By the end of that year, it had six million monthly active users.
Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.
Based on the company’s social media service offerings, Facebook’s corporate vision statement is “People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, discover what’s going on in the world, and share and express what matters to them.”
This corporate vision demonstrates that the company is more than just an online social networking service. Rather, the firm aids in the gathering of information and meaningful dialogue among individual customers.
Facebook – Business Model and Revenue Model
Facebook makes money largely through showing commercials from businesses on its Facebook and Instagram apps. Ads contributed to 98% of Facebook’s $86 billion revenue in 2020. The remaining 2% of profits came mostly from Oculus and Portal device sales, as well as development payment fees.
Facebook’s business strategy is centred on providing its products and technologies to billions of users for free and then generating money by enabling businesses to show advertisements to Facebook’s consumers. Advertisers pay Facebook auction-based pricing depending on supply and demand.
This implies that the individuals who consume Facebook’s services (users) aren’t the people who are paying for them. Small companies who advertise on Facebook’s collection of applications are the real clients. With the launch of Facebook Shops, the initial iteration of Facebook’s e-commerce capabilities, the company’s focus on small companies became much more obvious.
Notwithstanding its history and present problems, Facebook is doing incredibly well. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, sales increased by 22% to $86 billion in 2020. It had a profit margin of 38% and a net income of $29 billion.
Facebook – Funding and Investors
Facebook raised a total of 16 funding rounds to date, as of July 12, 2022, which helped the organisation raise over $16 bn. Here’s a look at the Facebook funding table:
Date
Round
Amount
Lead Investors
Oct 20, 2014
Post-IPO-Equity
$13.8B
–
May 10, 2011
Secondary Market
–
–
Mar 4, 2011
Private Equity Round
–
–
Jan 21, 2011
Private Equity Round
$1.5B
DST Global, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners
Jan 1, 2011
Secondary Market
–
–
Jun 28, 2010
Secondary Market
$120M
Elevation Partners
May 26, 2009
Series D
$200M
DST Global
May 1, 2008
Debt Financing
$100M
TriplePoint Capital
Mar 27, 2008
Series C
$60M
Horizons Ventures
Jan 15, 2008
Series C
$15M
Global Founders Capital
The Facebook investors include Elevation Partners, DST Global, Horizons Ventures, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and more.
Facebook – Investments
Facebook has made 44+ investments in total to date, as of July 12, 2022. Here’s diving into the most recent Facebook investments:
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
May 27, 2022
OlaClick (YC W21)
Seed Round
$4.4M
May 4, 2022
Ami
Seed Round
$3M
April 6, 2022
VerSe Innovation
Series J
$805M
Jan 1, 2022
PlayCo
Corporate Round
$40M
Nov 8, 2021
Inworld AI
Seed Round
$7M
Oct 5, 2021
echo3D
Series A
$4M
Sep 30, 2021
Meesho
Series F
$570M
Aug 3, 2021
Formaloo
Grant
–
Jul 5, 2021
Helpmum
Grant
$55K
May 3, 2021
Obviously AI
Seed Round
$3.7M
Apr 5, 2021
Meesho
Series E
$300M
Jan 1, 2021
FEMCA Financial Services
Pre-Seed Round
–
Dec 24, 2020
ArtyOwl.com
Grant
₹100K
Dec 4, 2020
Com Olho
Grant
–
Facebook – Acquisitions
Facebook has acquired a total of 95+ companies to date. The last acquisition of Facebook is presize.ai, which the company acquired on April 14, 2022.
Here’s a look at some of the recently acquired companies of Facebook:
Acquiree Name
About Acquiree
Date
Amount
presize.ai
Presize is a Germany-based company that is fuelled by the Computer Vision and Deep Learning technologies to develop the most accurate body scanning software
Apr 14, 2022
–
ImagineOptix
ImagineOptix is a US-based company that manufactures optical thin films to help the production of small, affordable, battery-efficient video projectors
Dec 21, 2021
–
Within (VR/AR)
Within is a virtual reality and augmented reality media and technology company.
Oct 29, 2021
–
AI.Reverie
A leading provider of synthetic data to train machine learning algorithms.
Oct 12, 2021
–
Unit 2 Games
Unit 2 Games is a game creation and sharing platform designed to develop video games
Jun 4, 2021
–
Kustomer
Kustomer is an omnichannel Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) CRM platform specializing in customer service
Nov 30, 2020
$1B
Lemnis Technologies
We set a new standard for visual fidelity in VR/AR head-mounted displays, opening new opportunities for professional users.
Sep 22, 2020
–
Mapillary
Mapillary has built a street-level imagery platform that uses photos which have been uploaded by members of the public.
Jun 18, 2020
–
Giphy
Giphy is an online database and search engine that allows users to search, share, and discover GIFs.
May 15, 2020
$400M
Sanzaru Games
Sanzaru Games is an independent console video game development studio.
Feb 25, 2020
–
Scape Technologies
Scape is a computer vision startup, building the localization engine for city-scale augmented reality.
Feb 9, 2020
–
Packagd
Packagd is a series of app that offers new mobile shopping experience.
Dec 20, 2019
–
Facebook – Growth
Facebook is the most popular social media network in the world, with 2.91 billion active monthly users as of the fourth quarter of 2021, which went up to become 2.93 bn in Q1 of FY22. Here’s a look at the rise of Facebook’s monthly active users.
Facebook’s Growth of Monthly Active Users
The number of registered Facebook members topped 1 billion in the third quarter of 2012, making it the first social networking service to accomplish so. In the first quarter of 2021, the company said that 3.51 billion people used at least one of its key platforms on a monthly basis (Facebook, Whatsapp, Messenger, or Instagram).
Facebook initially began with only 150 people working with the same firm back in 2006. This rose and rose over the years, and was last registered with 71,970 full-time employees in December 2021.
What’s Facebook Changing to Ramp up Growth?
Facebook and Instagram both will see some changes, and many of these changes will be inclined towards altering the process of how Facebook and Instagram users share posts and videos. On this, Mark Zuckerberg announced that the platforms will make it easier for the users to control what they “see and discover on Facebook.” Here are some of the proposed changes that will take place:
Feeds will be introduced as a new tab. This will help the users see the most recent posts from their friends, groups, and Pages.
A Favourites list can be curated of the friends and Pages the users care about.
The first thing that the users will now see is Home.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook is on a mission to change the way it shows its users’ posts and videos in order to enable the users to watch content from accounts that they don’t already follow. This will, thus, help the Meta flagship product, Facebook to better compete with viral video app TikTok.
Facebook’s Annual Revenue :
Year
Revenue
2010
$1.97 billion
2011
$3.71 billion
2012
$5.08 billion
2013
$7.87 billion
2014
$12.4 billion
2015
$17.9 billion
2016
$27.6 billion
2017
$40.6 billion
2018
$55.8 billion
2019
$70.6 billion
2020
$85.9 billion
The revenue of Fb in Q3 2021 was registered at $29.01 bn, which included $28.27 bn in ad revenues and $734 mn worth of other revenue.
Facebook Begins Testing Ethereum and Polygon NFTs on Profiles
Facebook announced that it has already started rolling out NFTs for some of the American creators in a report dated July 1, 2022. A spokesperson of the social media giant mentioned that the platform has started initially with NFTs on Ethereum and Polygon and will eventually add support for NFTs on Solana and Flow as well.
According to a post by Meta Product Manager Navdeep Singh, the users’ Facebook profiles will have a “digital collectibles area”, where they can display their NFTs, which are special blockchain tokens representing ownership. Singh also mentioned that the users will also be able to link their Facebook profiles to their bitcoin wallets. Also, they will have the option to convert their NFTs into Facebook posts that may then be shared, liked, commented on, and responded to, just like any other Facebook post.
Here’s the first look shared by Navdeep:
Facebook NFTs
Face Recognition Shutdown
Face recognition will be phased out of Facebook’s social network, as announced by the company in November 2021. Its use will be limited across all products, and over a billion saved faces will be deleted, according to Meta, Facebook’s newly formed parent company.
According to a blog post by Meta’s VP of artificial intelligence, Jerome Pesenti, the action will destroy over a billion saved faces in the following weeks. The removal of such a large database signal that Meta would limit the use of facial recognition in its planned “metaverse” projects, which will involve actual people interacting in vast virtual settings, including game environments, at least initially.
“The many specific instances where facial recognition can be helpful need to be weighed against growing concerns about the use of this technology as a whole,” wrote Pesenti. “There are many concerns about the place of facial recognition technology in society, and regulators are still in the process of providing a clear set of rules governing its use,” he said. “Amid this ongoing uncertainty, we believe that limiting the use of facial recognition to a narrow set of use cases is appropriate.”
Facebook – Competitors
The top competitors of Facebook are technology giants like:
The prominence and magnitude of Facebook have prompted condemnation from a variety of quarters. Internet privacy, its face recognition software, excessive data retention, DeepFace’s addictive nature, and its function in the workplace, including access to employee accounts by employers, are all challenges.
Facebook has been chastised for its consumption of electricity, tax evasion, real-name user verification regulations, censorship, and participation in the US PRISM surveillance program.
Users of Facebook are said to have negative psychological impacts such as jealousy and tension, a lack of focus, and social media addiction. Facebook has been slammed for enabling users to post obscene or illegal content. Copyright and intellectual property infringement, hate speech, rape, terrorist incitement, fake news, crimes, murders, and live-streaming violent situations are among the specifics.
Sri Lanka suspended both WhatsApp and Facebook in May 2019 as a temporary fix to restore peace following anti-Muslim violence, the worst in the country since the Easter Sunday attack the preceding year. Between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, Facebook removed 3 billion fake accounts, bringing the total number of monthly active users to 2.39 billion.
The company said in late July 2019 that the Federal Trade Commission was investigating it for antitrust breaches.
Facebook Layoffs
Facebook is looking to lay off employees and has already asked the process managers to identify the low-performing employees and move them to exit, as per reports dated July 15, 2022. The company has been reportedly struggling with macroeconomic pressures and incurred hits to its advertising business.
Facebook Parent Meta Faces Trademark Lawsuit
Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook has been hit by a trademark lawsuit filed by Meta X LLC., a virtual reality-based company, in Manhattan federal court, as of the reports dated July 26, 2022. MetaX alleged that the Facebook owner (earlier Facebook, Inc.), which is now renamed Meta Platforms Inc., has stolen its name since its pivot to metaverse. MetaX also reported that Meta has infringed its federal “Meta” trademarks.
Following the renaming of Facebook as ‘Meta,’ the firm will be “metaverse first,” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which means you won’t need a Facebook account to access other Meta products in the future.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about our identity as we begin this next chapter,” he said. “Facebook is an iconic social media brand, but it just doesn’t encompass everything that we do.”
It also suggests that the company would divide its activities into two segments: one for its future platform efforts (Reality Labs is going to be the tag for that segment) and another for its app family.
Whilst expanding their social networking applications will remain a priority, he believes that the company’s identity will become less tied to a single product/ service over time.
In short, the metaverse will be an embodiment of the internet, according to Zuckerberg, who believes it will be the next integrated virtual media to emerge after video (which evolved from photos and texts).
Rather than staring at a screen, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in these activities. That’s most probably to be accomplished through instilling a strong sense of presence in a shared environment, which would be the metaverse’s distinguishing characteristic. This will demand hardware from the firm, such as the Oculus Quest 2 or others.
The firm is thinking about offering incentives to developers and new users to join. To boost adoption, these alternatives include cutting costs, subsidizing gadgets, or selling them at a loss.
It’s crucial to stress, though, that the metaverse of Zuckerberg’s visions is far from complete. Currently, just the fundamental building pieces work, according to Zuckerberg. In the end, technological obstacles remain—compressing augmented reality technology and sophisticated computers into a pair of spectacles, for example, is a difficult task.
Although Zuckerberg vows to encourage security and privacy on this new “social technology” network in a founder’s letter, it remains to be seen if he can persuade people to use it, particularly younger generations who have been abandoning Facebook. Many people question if a new interface would simply reintroduce the same old issues.
FAQs
What does Facebook do?
Facebook is an American online social networking website owned by Meta Platforms.
Who founded Facebook?
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew McCollum, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin.
When was Facebook founded?
Facebook was founded in the year 2004.
How does Facebook make money?
Facebook makes money primarily by showing advertisements from businesses on its Instagram and Facebook apps.
Which companies do Facebook compete with?
The top 10 competitors in Facebook’s competitive set are:
Instagram is a smartphone app for creating a social community for sharing images, videos, story updates, etc., and establishment of the continuous connection between people.
Instagram is one of the most used social media sites. Probably, you too have an account over there and use it in maintaining and updating about your life in a nutshell to people who follow you.
It has evolved with vibrant design and features like comment liking, deactivation of comments on a post, image filters, and the ability to upload videos. In 2019, Instagram announced user protection by introducing new features to reduce harassment on the app.
In 2020 Instagram launched new updates of reels, audio, and video call, continued with unique features of live video with four people, the addition of pronouns to the profiles, in 2021. As a part of child safety policy, Instagram announced that adults are prohibited from messaging teens that don’t follow them.
With an unlimited scrolling feature of social media, you can get caught up in it, but did you know there are amazing unknown facts about it, too?
Social media platforms have become a part of the everyday routine for most of us. In just a few years, Instagram has reached the hearts of millions and achieved lots of popularity. It has developed to be the most preferred social media platform.
Users who find it fun would love to know more facts about it. Understanding the intentions and working of the best social media platform will benefit the marketers and help them make effective marketing strategies.
Be it the statistics, growth, top brands, hashtags, or the most interesting facts, and you’ll find all you ever wanted to know about Instagram.
Instagram is the world’s largest social media platform with photo-video sharing features and is owned by Facebook. Most businesses consider Instagram the best platform to promote and sell their brands, services, and products.
To provide these businesses with the required space, Instagram updates unique features every year. According to the statistics, January 2019 saw 500 million story views daily.
This data confirms that most of the population is active on Instagram every day. Hence, businesses make new strategies while learning the Instagram algorithm and networking.
As a fundraiser, you should know unknown facts about Instagram
Instagram has generated a new feature called “Fundraisers and Donations.” It is effective for non-profit organizations and individuals seeking monetary help for medication, natural calamities, education, or personal financial crisis. 100% of the amount raised goes directly to the supported organization.
Usually, a charity fundraiser goes live in your account for 30 days. The fundraiser can be promoted through posts, stories, and live videos during this period.
This feature offers:
Sharing a fundraiser on posts, stories, and live videos
Search results of charity on Instagram
Donation stickers that can be uploaded on stories and live videos.
Instagram for Creativity and Small Business
Instagram gives a beautiful space to all creative minds. You can use the platform to find inspiring and innovative content and express your creativity simultaneously. Instagram has a feature to make a personal account as a business account.
There are plenty of tools offered to support the small business proliferating on this platform. Instagram also promotes your posts and stories to get you a better reach. You can easily create your own business, promote and sell your products and earn from your posts.
Instagram Growth Statistics
Listed below are some Instagram statistics to help you understand the app more. (source)
Instagram had 10 million users even before it was launched for android users.
In 2012, it was available for android users, and the number of Instagram users jumped to 100 million in February 2013.
October 2021 witnessed 1.16 billion users.
Every second, 995 photos get uploaded to Instagram.
61% of brands plan to increase their advertising budget for Instagram in 2021.
60% of users are on Instagram to find new products.
There are 500+ million story views every day.
Instagram is the fifth most popular download in the Apple app store in 2022
Instagram ranks tenth most searched query globally.
Instagram was co-founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger.
Currently, the handle of Instagram is in the hands of Adam Mosseri.
The Instagram official account has the highest number of followers, with 390 million followers.
Christiano Ronaldo is the top influencer of Instagram with 275 million followers, followed by Lionel Messi with 195 million followers.
Among the top ten influencers of Instagram, America alone has seven influencers.
Earning From Instagram
Instagram has taken the initiative to help the influencers grow by allowing them to earn from their posts and videos. As a result, even the tiny influencers make pretty well from their Instagram account.
The three common payscales of Instagram are:-
Micro-influencer: 10k followers get paid $88 per post.
Mid-level influencer: 100k followers can earn $200 per post
High-level influencer: million followers make $670 per post.
You will be surprised to know that the most liked food on Instagram is Pizza. You can find mouth-watering dishes on Instagram, but if you do not like pizza, then you can prefer another delicious food according to your choice and liking.
Instagram Users
Do you know that most of the users of Instagram are women, 68% of Instagram users are female? You have noticed that the majority of Instagram users are female users. Instagram has various possibilities to include multiple entertainment and business opportunities for other people.
Instagram’s First Photo
Instagram’s First Photo
Kevin Systrom – cofounder of Instagram posted the first photo on Instagram. It was the click of his dog. This post gets the most popularity in less time. It shows that you can boost your business in less time if your post is adorable and catchy.
Instagram’s Most-Liked Photo
Instagram’s most liked photo – Kylie Jenner’s daughter – Stormi
The most liked photo on Instagram is of Kylie Jenner’s daughter, Stormi. This photo is on the record so far, which has been liked the most in a short time.
Most Used Filter on Instagram
Gingham is the most used filter on Instagram. After using Gingham Filter you can enhance your photo and give the gorgeous look of your photo, it will attract your audience and fans.
Instagram User’s Age
The generation that uses Instagram the most is young. Most Instagram users are between the ages of 18-29. It can always be said that Instagram will be the best platform for the coming generation where you can meet each other to showcase your talent and grow your startup business.
When Was the Video Feature Added to Instagram?
In 2013, the video feature was added, The most surprising thing is that in just 24 hours, 5 million videos got uploaded. This shows that Instagram is so popular.
How Many Accounts Add a Story in a Day?
This is a really amazing fact about Instagram that more than 100 million accounts add a story every day. 100 million accounts in a day mean more career opportunities for the coming generation.
How Many Photos Are Posted in a Day on Instagram?
Every day millions of photos are uploaded on Instagram but if we talk about average then on average, 80 million photos are posted every day and the average per day likes is 3.5 billion.
Conclusion
Instagram is an amazing app that has seen rapid growth briefly. People love this platform for its exciting features that help them grow, express their creativity, do the marketing and build a strong community.
FAQs
Who is the founder of Instagram?
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have co-founded Instagram in 2010.
When did Facebook owned Instagram?
Facebook purchased Instagram for 1 billion dollars in 2012.
Which was the first photo posted on Instagram?
Kevin Systrom – The Co-founder and Then CEO of Instagram posted the first photo of his Dog on Instagram.
What is the number of Instagram monthly users?
The total number of Instagram monthly active users has surpassed 1 billion people.
Recently, social media platforms are efficiently used for digital marketing to cast business products & services to Netizens. As is the case, literally one-third of the population is active on various social media such Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and so on. That’s why businesses grabbed this opportunity to spike their sales as well as new customers in engaging campaigns like contests, offers, or promotions on social media.
Social media marketing is one of the essential elements in digital marketing, where entrepreneurs can connect audiences to build a brand, which as a result boost your business’s sales and drive website traffic.
Apart from hosting campaigns, social media platforms bestow amazing features to your profile such as Action buttons, Customized audience segmentation, creating campaigns, and relevant hashtags/keywords research.
For instance; the “Swipe Up” feature is available on Instagram, where you can add relevant links in your stories or posts where your followers will convert into customers to your brand.
There are some other people- influencers or Content creators who also use the same social media as an entrepreneur does. But is there any particular social media platform that can be used only by entrepreneurs to establish your business objectives? Yes, we do have 20 nifty social media platforms to build your business into a renowned brand by increasing audiences with increasing sales.
The Facebook period is remembered, as Facebook rose to become the world’s third-most-popular website after Google and YouTube. Up to 98 percent of individuals on Facebook are mobile users, therefore mobile optimization would impact a positive remark for doing business.
Furthermore, it is estimated that over 83 percent of marketers use Facebook to promote their companies, and you can leverage Facebook lead generating capabilities to contact and target potential buyers.
For instance, as per the survey conducted in 2004, it is cited that Facebook effectively covers the female market by selling cosmetics, accessories, beauty care, and clothing, among other things.
2. Digg
Digg Website
It is a social networking site that every entrepreneur must leverage. The site drives a lot of traffic to your website where you can post exclusive content on Digg that may be beneficial or interesting to others, and others will either Digged (vote) or bury (against) your information, generating leads to your website.
3. PartnerUp
Partner Up Website
In order to develop a powerful team for your organization, you’ll need executives, CEOs, board members, and other resources, that’s why PartnerUp was established in 2005 which was acquired by Deluxe Corporation. It is one of the best sites for entrepreneurs and startups to grow their businesses. For newbies, PartnerUp finds suitable and the best co-founders, business partners, executives, board members, advisors/mentors for your business.
4. Instagram
Entrepreneurs may find it simple to sell on Instagram because the majority of young people are regular users, with roughly 90% of active accounts visiting the platform on a daily basis. Instagram is the go-to platform for shoppable content, with over 130 million users looking for products and services to buy.
With the help of visual content, such as reels, by evaluating competition, tweaking target segmentation and profile gravitas, and using relevant/branded hashtags to attract visitors to your profile, Instagram can help entrepreneurs raise brand awareness.
By producing leads, Instagram assists you in gaining access to advertising and insight alternatives for your organization. Furthermore, Quick Responsive by incorporating the ‘Quick Replies’ option on your page, where the likelihood of contact between the brand and customers is increased appropriately.
5. Linkedin
LinkedIn Website
Linkedin is a platform that is perfect for entrepreneurs where you can reach out to clients as well as other professional businesses. Entrepreneurs can generate leads, gain insights, conduct brand awareness via campaigns and build an affiliate relationship with the online communities on Linkedin.
Furthermore, Linkedin helps you to gain the quality of leadership by engaging with other businesses and obtaining more knowledge in marketing.
6. Vator
Vator Website
It is a reliant community that post blogs, and news feed of the latest entrepreneurs and investors. Startups can enroll in the community and have a convo with successful entrepreneurs and also interact with netizens to augment their social circle in the business world.
7. Founder Grid
Smash.vc Website
Sometimes we need the motivation to get started as entrepreneurs, such as the stories of Elon Musk, an entrepreneur who has inspired millions of people. Founder Grid (Now Smash.vc) is a social networking platform for entrepreneurs that sends out a monthly with interviews, tools, successful stories, guidelines, and techniques from your favourite entrepreneurs. The platform was acquired by Smash.vc.
8. StartUp Nation
StartupNation Website
This social networking platform was founded in 2002 with the goal of helping entrepreneurs and businesses expand and manage their operations. Startup Nations promotes peer-to-peer networking within business communities, particularly among small and medium-sized enterprises.
They post essential material on how to incorporate your business in terms of legal, insurance, and other compliance concerns. Furthermore, you could seek legal guidance or converse with other business owners about how to flourish as an entrepreneur.
9. Twitter
Twitter Website
Twitter has the most active set of communities and provides you with a lot of potential customers. And 44% of Twitter users are 18 to 24 years old. Twitter is best for journalists.
Mostly all the famous company writers will be present on Twitter, so you can pitch the company’s writer, if they like it then it’s a win. It is easy to distinguish the ideal client on Twitter and also it’s simple to share YouTube videos and blogs.
10. Youtube
All you require is an essential mastery of developing and editing a video on YouTube. This social media platform is one of the best for entrepreneurs. In YouTube it’s not always about putting any content on your channel, it must also contain some incorporated tags, clickable thumbnails, and graphics in the video.
YouTube is the most effective for marketing, proving your skill, and mainly for connecting with people. You need to know about SEO and add significant keywords for search engines. YouTube has no age limit, from youngsters to aged people, all are using YouTube, so you don’t need another social platform if you utilize this one correctly.
11. Pinterest
To date, Pinterest is one of the vital sites that people often visit. Out of those, 38% of the users are from 18 to 24 years old. Pinterest is not only utilized by the students, the stats state that 38% of the users are people who have completed their college education.
Pinterest contains answers for everything, from recipes, style, and also home decorations. So people come here regularly to ask for answers to their questions. If you use it in the right way, it may come of use and as it’s more like a search engine, it’s a plus.
All you need is to have a regular blog or YouTube channel to lead your customers and if you don’t have one, then Pinterest will doesn’t work for you. Pinterest is best for an influencer, blogger, or YouTuber.
12. Tik Tok
Everyone knows that Tik Tok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps. As per stats, the USA contains around 26.5 million monthly active users and 41 percent of users are roughly aged between 16 to 24. So there is no doubt that these social media apps are best for entrepreneurs and as not many entrepreneurs are making use of it, it may be a plus to you.
It’s easy to gain followers in Tik Tok, all you need is to put out some interesting content or use other known Tik Tokers. Though it’s easy to gain followers and views on Tik Tok, we can say that investing your time or money in it will always come to be a success, it’s never a sure thing. But you can use it as one of your means, as it may change in the coming days. TikTok is banned in many countries including India but is active in the United States as of 2021.
13. The Funded
The Funded Website
The Funded is a website where entrepreneurs may investigate, do ratings, review and discuss funding options. It is a community of about 20,000 CEOs, Founders, and entrepreneurs who we meet to talk about fundraising, rate and review angel investors and venture capitalists, and discuss techniques on raising a startup. The company was founded in 2007 by Adeo Ressi.
14. Snapchat
Despite the fact that many younger viewers have shifted to TikTok, Snapchat remains an underlying power factor in the world of top social media apps. However, Snapchat’s loss of cool is also a strength these days, since B2B companies are flocking to the site. This year, Snapchat’s MAUs have really climbed a stunning 18 percent.
15. WeChat
Many people mistake that WeChat is an app that can only be used for chatting, but no it’s not true, it’s also a popular social media platform that can be utilized for things other than just chatting or messaging.
WeChat has evolved into an all-in-one social network akin to Facebook. Expect WeChat to flourish as more Facebook users become disillusioned with the service. Wechat is banned in India but is active in the U.S and a few other countries.
16. VK
While its monthly active users (MAUs) aren’t as high as Facebook’s, Russia-based VK has a loyal following, particularly among those who have been banned from Facebook, either temporarily or permanently. As more individuals become frustrated with Facebook’s limits, expect VK to rise in popularity among specific demographics.
Conclusion
Though Social media is vital for entrepreneurs, it’s not always going to be a win. If you want to gain some name among people, then social media is but, but there are many platforms out there. Not every platform will be suitable for you, it alters as per your task. It relies on which site and how you execute it.
Establishing your brand on any social media network, particularly for startups, needs a significant amount of effort and takes a lot of time to obtain recognition in a short span.
Nowadays, social media has become an integral part of everyone’s lives, since reading through their feed is one of the first things they do. As a result, promoting your business on social media raises brand awareness among netizens.
More significantly, before opening an account on various social networking sites, you should conduct research, segment your audience, and select what material to post, when to post, and where to post in order to generate the most leads for your company.
FAQs
Which social media is best for entrepreneurs?
Digg, PartnerUp, Linkedin, StartupNation are some of the entrepreneur social network sites every entrepreneur must checkout.
Which social media platforms should a company always use?
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, Pinterest, Quora are some of the platforms that every business should leverage to grow their business.
What websites do entrepreneurs use?
Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur.com, The Economist, Bloomberg.com, Forbes.com, Under 30 CEO are some of the websites entrepreneurs use.
This article is contributed by Mr. Abdul Nasir Shaikh, CEO, Lexicon Group of Institutes & Multifit.
Networking is one of the most important things one needs to do to further their career. It gives out opportunities that one cannot find on their own. Through the help of proper networking, one gets to explore other fields and get noticed by the people that will benefit them.
Today, the notion of branding can indeed be implemented on an individualistic level. You can create a picture that will help you stand out online and reach a wider audience.
Every time we talk about personal branding, LinkedIn pops up in our minds. It emerges over the course of our daily discussions about brand management and novel media advertising. In fact, whenever someone is asked to help individuals and startups with personal branding, LinkedIn is bound to be brought up. In this article, we will talk about how we can use LinkedIn for personal branding. So let’s get started.
LinkedIn is one of the most effective business networking tools out there, if not the most. LinkedIn is definitely the best place to increase your network whether it’s for your business or as an individual.
Everything and anything that propels your personal branding and ascension lives and thrives on the network. It’s the digital meeting place for meeting people, accumulating knowledge, and forming and growing business connections.
Steps to Leverage LinkedIn for Personal Branding
LinkedIn can be your ticket to accelerate your career to a whole different level for that you need to follow some important steps and they are down below:
Make your Profile Stand Out
If you sprint through the process of making a profile, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. Your profile will be observed and analysed more often than on other social media platforms. Since personal branding is so important in the LinkedIn environment, you’re given a massive and dynamic canvas to portray a picture of yourself on. Delve deeper, put hard work as well as creativity into jamming your public profile from head to toe.
Think of LinkedIn as a Live Profile
Keep your profile updated. Whenever you make any career move, take a new course, learn anything new or publish a new article, everything should go on there. You cannot afford to set your profile and then forget about it. Treat it as a live resume, describing you in a professional as well as in a personal way.
Publish Articles for LinkedIn
There is more than one way of writing for LinkedIn. You can, of course, write exclusively for the platform and reach several people in doing so. You can also publish an excerpt of an article on your own blog and move your LinkedIn audience to read more on your site, creating traffic for your page. The benefit of publishing your work on LinkedIn is that every time you post, your connections get notified, generating a bigger audience.
Strategically Choose your Skills
You can mention up to 50 skills on your profile, be sure to use relevant skills to target your potential clients or employers. Strategize and add skills that work for you in creating a good impression. Remember to stay authentic!
Engage Meaningfully
Take the time to interact with posts on your feed by liking, sharing, and commenting frequently. You must build a relationship with your connections over time so if you want to work with someone in the future, they recognise you as someone they have interacted with, giving you a real presence online.
Optimize your Profile
As said earlier, LinkedIn is a search engine of sorts along with being a social networking site. The words you use matter a great deal. Use keywords for your headline, job descriptions, summary, etc. The right words can go a long way.
Build your Knowledge
Learning should never stop. Keep taking up new things, learning new skills, embarking on adventures of your own, to not only make your profile look better but also to help you grow into a richer human being.
There is another thing that can be discovered over the years, which is individuals on LinkedIn either recognize what they really want to accomplish through the platform or don’t understand what they want to accomplish at all.
While it may appear that those who understand what they want to accomplish will be more successful on LinkedIn, it’s not always the case. As a result, they operate with the wrong mindset, focusing on how many direct leads or sales they can generate.
However, LinkedIn is not really a place for people who would like to constantly hear sales pitches. It is a place for people to collaborate with other people who provide the relevant content or whose stories strike a chord with them.
LinkedIn is one of the easiest platforms to use and has more than 500 million users worldwide! While until recently, your LinkedIn profile was simply for job purposes, many professionals are now starting to emerge as leaders in their sectors and are using LinkedIn as part of that strategy.
Embrace how LinkedIn can be used to build your personal brand beyond just a place to keep up with who has employed you. Start by developing yourself, get better and stronger with personal branding and you will have the best chances of having a successful career.
In this platform, the more one will reveal about themselves, the more people will gravitate towards them.
FAQ
How should you use LinkedIn to promote your brand?
Invite your connection to follow your company page, promote your company using emails and blog posts, and optimize your page search.
Do you think personal branding is important in landing your dream job?
Yes, personal branding is really important for landing a dream job as it will help you to get in front of employers.
How do you market on LinkedIn 2022?
Publish articles on LinkedIn, Make your profile stand out, Optimize your profile, and mention your skills.
This article is contributed by Snehal Gersappa, Founder, Zlen.
Social media has become so intertwined with our lives that it is difficult to imagine a day without it. Be it for connecting with our favorite people, or consuming the latest gossip from the world, social media is where the majority of us spend a good chunk of our daily time.
With nowhere else to turn to, there’s a sense of inevitability amongst people that you cannot have a fun social media experience without sacrificing your privacy.
Well…not really. From the city that never sleeps – Mumbai, there is now a perfect solution to your problems – ‘Zlen’. Zlen gives its users a space to create their private circle & have a fun and engaging social media experience without compromising their privacy. Let’s be clear, Zlen is not for everyone and neither is it to have the whole wide social circle on it. Zlen is for your close and trusted circle only, a place where you can be yourself without having to worry about people judging you, disturbing you, or taking your personal space for granted.
How Does The Magic Happen On Zlen?
The Zlen Code
Once you have successfully signed up to the Zlen app, the first thing is that you will get your very own unique alphanumeric Zlen Code. This is an entry barrier that will help you keep all your own space, well.. your own.
Unlike other social media platforms, no one will be able to search for you with your name, phone number, or email ID. The only way someone can send you a connection request is if you share your Zlen Code with them. That ensures that you can keep all the unwanted people out because on Zlen there is NO DISCOVERABILITY. Even if you google your Zlen Code, nothing will show up.
You can add your closest friends by sharing the code or add them via their Zlen Code or just scan the QR code that is again unique to each user. Once you add your friend, they become part of your Zlen Club, and you can get the party started, away from the prying eyes of the public.
Zlen Feeds
This is the place where you see everything that your Zlen Club shares. You can share media, create polls, and share announcements that your Zlen Club will be able to see on their respective Feeds. Only those who are part of your Zlen Club can see what you post and share. In fact, you can create polls for specific people. If you’re planning a night out with only 4 of your friends from your Zlen Club, you can send a poll asking where to head only to these 4 people.
Zlen Messaging
Like we said Zlen gives you the complete social experience and the app has an intuitive chat interface that lets you chat individually and create groups too.
Disappearing Messages Now no need to wait for a week for your messages to disappear. Zlen believes in keeping the social media space clutter-free and with a minimal digital footprint. On Zlen you can enable the disappearing messages/media option. You can set the duration for which you want the messages to be visible. This can be anywhere between 5 seconds onwards. And once your friend has read the message, after the stipulated time, your messages get erased forever.
One of the dreaded things right now is being added to groups on any social media because half the time you’re in it with random other people you don’t even know. And in these cases, your profile and your number are visible to these people and there’s really nothing you can do about it. However, if you are in a group on Zlen, you will only be able to see the details of people whom you have specifically added with your Zlen code. Say your best friend added you to a group and they have some other people who are part of their club on it. You and the mutuals will not be able to see any details of each other, except the messages you send.Instead of your display name, it will only say ‘Someone On Zlen’. So now you really don’t have to worry about your details going to people you don’t know, even if you’re added to a group. The same is for the others you see who has commented on a post… It works the same way when you like and comments on a friend’s photo. To a person who is not connected with you on Zlen, you again show up as ‘Someone On Zlen’.
Digital Detox
This unique feature allows you to mute all notifications on the app and take a break to unwind. You simply need to click on ‘Start Detox’ under your profile and decide the time you want to detox for. Others in your Zlen club will be able to see that you are on detox and will not be able to message you during that time. Who knows maybe you might inspire them to take a break too.
This is a separate tab on the Zlen app, where you will exclusively see updates from the members in your Zlen Club when they change their profile photos, status, or even their display name!
Zlen Display Name & Status
‘Username is already taken’. How many times have you seen this on social media? It’s a shame when someone has already taken @ThomasShelbyFan. With Zlen, you can change your display name as many times as you want, no strings attached. And through your status, you can keep your Zlen Club updated with what the rest of the world doesn’t know (which they don’t need to also).
Zlen Team
What’s in it for Zlen Users?
Apart from the mashup of social media & private messenger features, complete privacy features, and the exclusive social community that Zlen provides, the platform has many exciting things in the pipeline for users. In the near future, there will be special offers exclusively for Zlen users with brands across fitness, F&B, sports, lifestyle, travel, etc.
Zlen plans to create a close-knit community among the users, and it will have unique Zlen experiences such as travel getaways, screenings, access to exclusive events, etc. for the community
Zlen endeavors to keep up with the changing trends and requirements of the user. It is in the process of developing audio and video chat rooms, live video streaming, and even podcast sharing and creation. The app plans to go global in 2022!
There it is, Zlen is all you need to have if you want to bring back the healthy experience of social media. Just because of the negativity, there should not be a compromise in how we connect with our closest people and how we express ourselves, Zlen is not about how many friends you add and the number of followers you have. It is all about healthy, happy conversations and making your life visible to the people who truly appreciate it.
Also down the line when Zlen reaches a milestone of downloads, the app will become a paid service for new users joining. So, this is your chance to claim your private social space.
The products and services of a brand need to reach its audience to make a name for itself. Not everyone is your customer, so to reach the potential customers, to make them aware of your presence, Marketing is needed.
The word is not that simple as it looks; one needs to follow the proper concept that is needed to be done to promote the products and services of that brand. Strong marketing tactics can do wonders for a brand.
One of the major parts of marketing is advertising. When you advertise products, you create demand for them amongst the audience and make them aware of the brand. We get to have the idea of a brand through Billboard, Television ads, radio ads, or just while scrolling through our social media, somehow or the other the best ones always left an impression of them in our mind.
Advertising a product or service will get you to your desired result but it all depends on how you do that. Media is through which, advertising is possible and one needs to learn how to use it properly to get the best result possible.
To get inside the head of the consumer, one needs more than just a catchy slogan, a bonafide message has to be created through that advertisement with an accurate price, which depends on the budget of that marketing campaign.
To get an advertisement one needs to buy the space of that medium, which they are going to use to communicate with the audience. It is done through Media buying, it is paid marketing, that is whatever tactic will be chosen for it, and the client needs to purchase that. In the following article, we will learn about media buying and if it is a good bet for your brand.
“Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.”
Media buying is all about buying space on mediums of advertisement that will be able to communicate with the targeted audience within a given specific timeslot and within a minimal amount of money.
This is a long process as it includes researching and negotiation in deciding about the placement and the price of the ads. The medium can be television, radio, newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertisement, Social Media, blogs, websites.
Media Buying And Research
Medium buying is a complicated process, before investing one needs to do a lot of research. The research includes,
Finding out who is the target audience, their income, and basically the geographic and demographic research.
Then comes the budget, one of the most important factors, if not the most. It decides if it’s going to be a regional or a national market, where the advertisement will be shown and for how much time.
The next step is choosing the best media outlet from the vast option to reach the desired results.
Negotiation Process of Media Buying
The next process after the research is negotiation, which means coming to a conclusion at the best deal possible. The negotiations are of two types and they bare:
Zero-Sum Negotiation- Here, one or both parties are not able to come to a conclusion because they are not willing to settle with the given conditions in the agreement. This is not good for the company and will quite possibly create an unhealthy relationship between the client and the media company.
Integrative Negotiations- In this both the client and the media company work to achieve the best result that will satisfy both the parties’ goals.
There are two ways to buy media for your brand and they are direct buy and Programmatic buy.
Direct Buy- It includes finding the publisher, negotiating with the publishers, buying the space, and then having the advertisement on the chosen platform directly.
Programmatic Buy– This process is done through automated technology that is real-time bidding. Here the advertisers offer space for the advertisement and the highest bidder occupies the place for its products and services.
Why Media Buying is Necessary?
This is basically done so that the brand can get exposure for a period of time and so that whatever the company is investing in this, they can get a good return from that investment in a form of profit. Media buying is a very essential part of marketing today. It is needed for:
To reach the target audience at a perfect time and place and have the chance to turn the potential customers into actual customers.
If the right strategy is followed a large number of target audiences will get exposed to the brand at a very reasonable price, paid by the company.
The company will stand out and will give a tough fight to its competitors. Constant ads will help in getting the attention of a maximum number of people and making them talk of the town, thus increasing the chances of sale of the company’s products and services.
The agencies here supervise the media buying process and choose the best possible option for the client so that their aim can be achieved. Some of the top media buying agencies include:
OMD
Mindshare
Carat
MediaCom
Wavemaker
Starcom
Spark
Bidsopt
Socialiency Advertsing
Amazon DSP
The Trade Desk
AdColony
Google Display & Video 360
Conclusion
The marketing process has become extremely competitive; several same products of different brands exist. To make the brand stand out amongst all those, proper marketing is needed.
Medial buying helps in planning and carrying out a valuable marketing campaign that will benefit the brand by increasing its sales and imprinting its existence in the minds of the consumers. The media buyer analyzes all the factors and decides which platform is best for the brand to get recognition at a minimal cost.
FAQ
What are the most important rules of Media Buying?
The three most important rules of media buying are, using the correct form of media, placing the advertisement at a correct place, and targeting the right audience for the product or service.
What are Media Buying Platforms?
Media platforms include Websites, YouTube, Social media, Radio, Television, Newspapers, and other advertising media.
What is media buying?
Media buying is all about buying space on mediums of advertisement that will be able to communicate with the targeted audience.
Possessing more than 250 million active users, Twitter is one of the most talked-about and most used social media stages. It has this number of active users who log in at least once a month.
So basically Twitter is a microblogging and social media networking site of service. This American-based social media platform allows its users to post and have normal interaction through messages.
And these messages are known are “Tweets”. Only the foremost registered users can post, like, and retweet the old tweets, but the ones who are unregistered are only able to read them and nothing other than that. Before knowing some surprising facts about Twitter, let’s have a look at its highlights.
So as Twitter has been growing on a larger scale in terms of membership, platform popularity, and its day-to-day usage. So now it looks increasingly very interesting to have a look at the facts and other figures about this micro-blogging social media platform that is Twitter. Some of the interesting facts about Twitter are:
At first, there were doubts about whether the hashtag would ever become popular with internet users since it appeared too technical and nerdy. The person who is to date held responsible for introducing the famous hashtag into this packed digital world is Chris Messina.
Hashtags were designed just to help the existing users connect with a much particular theme. They are mostly used during events and other conferences to help people find other relatable posts about a similar thing.
Twitter – The blue Twitter bird in the Logo is Larry.
Twitter Bird – Larry
Another interesting fact about Twitter is Larry, the bird in the logo of Twitter. Many people including Twitter users also may not know that Larry was its name and something like this existed.
Larry’s name came before the world as well as the limelight after the year 2012 although this social media platform was being operated since 2006 with the same logo. When people started questioning and speculating about whether Larry is a definite name or not. It later got confirmed by a manager of Twitter.
Interesting Facts about Twitter
Twitter – The first tweet was done on March 21, 2006.
The first interesting fact about Twitter is that that first tweet was tweeted factually on 21st March 2006. Jack Dorsey, one of the present co-founders of Twitter was the man to post the first tweet.
So, Jack Dorsey took it to Twitter and posted the first-ever tweet in the entire history of Twitter at exactly 9.50 P.M. The tweet read, “just setting up my twttr.”
Twitter – Friendstalker
Another interesting fact that hardly anyone knows is that “Friendstalker” was one of the original ideas for the name other than Twitter. Initially, this name was highly on the cards.
Twitter – The Library of Congress often archives all tweets.
One of the underrated interesting facts related to Twitter is that in 2010, the United States Library of Congress started archiving all tweets.
But it was announced in 2017 that it would be more selective with its tweets that are being archived. This decision came in because the number of tweets was increasing. So, thinking rationally, the Library of Congress decided that it will archive only a certain number of tweets only for the interest and benefit of the people of America.
Twitter – Barack Obama has the most number of Followers.
Most Followed person on Twitter- Barack Obama
Another interesting fact about Twitter is that Barack Obama the former President of the United States of America is the most followed person on Twitter with 129.8 million followers.
He has the most number of followers on Twitter followed by Justin Bieber with 113.8m followers and Katy Perry with 108.3m followers.
Twitter – If you follow the Pope on Twitter, you are a better person.
Another interesting yet hilarious fact of Twitter is that according to the Vatican if a person follows the Pope on Twitter, the person is good.
This is because the Catholic Church and the Vatican claim that helping the needy, charity to the poor, and enchanting the prayers daily make you a better person.
Twitter – Nearly 4 Lakh Tweets are being made a minute.
One of the most interesting facts about Twitter is that, in an average single Minute, approximately 4 lakh Tweets are being posted on Twitter.
This sums up to a massive number of 500 million Tweets a single day. It seems a large quantity but in comparison, Facebook has an average of 4 million new posts every single minute and that’s huge concerning Twitter.
Twitter – Early days’ problems.
By early 2007, Twitter started to grow more, and the communications and media team had the advantage of the famous conference and events to make the usage maximum and add more people to Twitter.
Around 2007, approximately 50,000 tweets were made every single day on Twitter. This in return proved to be too efficient for the existing servers to handle at a time.
Twitter – Ellen DeGeneres’s Selfie
Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie in March 2014 on Twitter
And here we come to the most interesting fact about Twitter: Ellen DeGeneres’s selfie in March 2014 at the Oscars became the most retweeted tweet ever in the history of Twitter.
It then becomes one of the most celebrated selfies of all time, as well as being a famous tweet. As also this was one of the main objectives of the tweet by the time Ellen posted it.
Twitter – Initially, it was “Twttr” not “Twitter”.
Another interesting fact about Twitter is that it was not called Twitter in its earliest days as it is now. The name “ Twttr” was the actual name chosen for this service. The basic idea for this name is still attributed to Noah Glass.
Another stunning fact about Twitter is that in Sweden the official account was being run by a new swede every other week. Yes, it’s true. In 2011, the Swedish government handed over the keys of the official Twitter handle to any citizen every week. The aim was to show the country as it existed through the eyes of the various citizens.
Twitter – The most preferable time to tweet.
Yes, this is a most useful and interesting fact for a Twitter user. This is because if you are a Twitter user then you must tweet within this time to get maximum reach for your tweet. This is because the most active user is found in between this period.
Twitter – A Hangtag
Another interesting fact about Twitter is that when a tweet is ended with an empty hashtag it is called a hangtag. This is because it is considered to be Twitter’s version of the mic drop.
Twitter – Twitter is being banned in many countries.
One of the most interesting and trending topics of issue about Twitter is that it is getting banned by many countries. This is because it is violating the restrictions of the government.
Recently it got banned by Nigeria. Before it was banned by China and some issues were also raised by India to ban it.
Conclusion
So at last these were all the interesting facts about Twitter. Some were highly underrated and overrated. Some were on some positive or negative note. Yet Twitter is considered as one of the most powerful social media platforms to raise a powerful voice in later being supported by other people.
FAQs
When was Twitter founded?
Twitter was founded in the Year 2006.
When was the hashtag first seen on Twitter?
The hashtag was first seen in 2007.
What is Hangtag?
A tweet ended with an empty hashtag it is called a hangtag.
When was the first tweet on Twitter?
The first tweet was tweeted factually on 21st March 2006.
What is the age limit for opening a twitter account?
Twitter requires people to be 13 years of age or older for using twitter services.
Sakshi Jadhav
