[matchagaucho]

It's easy to second guess... "if only they'd hung there, the $100B valuation today would be theirs".

But how many first time entrepreneurs would turn down a $1B offer after 2 years of work?

Guaranteed the writers of these articles have never been in that position.

[apozem]

If you read more closely, the author is not arguing this. He doesn't touch what the Instagram guys should have done, just what they did, and what they did was give up control of their product.

That has an advantage, which is you can plug into Facebook's monetization model and instantly start making money, but it also has a disadvantage, which is no longer being in total control.

[enitihas]

I think Zuckerberg refused a 1B $ offer from yahoo.

[overcast]

Zuckerberg wanted power, not money, that's the difference. Only a fool turns down a billion dollars. That's live the rest of your life doing whatever the hell you want money. Holding out for more billions won't change that.

[rokhayakebe]

What if what you want to do for the rest of your life is run the company the way you see it fit for as long as you want?

[overcast]

That's fine, also not about more money.

[hectorr1]

Very few people turn that down, and even fewer are capable of running $100B companies. But those who are in the second camp are also probably in the first camp, because being an effective CEO requires the irrational confidence of first believing you are an effective CEO with limited evidence.

It's a little tautological, but the fact that they took it means they probably wouldn't have succeeded.