[tptacek]

Facebook got all the way to an IPO with business fundamentals so bad that after the IPO, Paul Graham wrote a letter to all the then-current YC companies warning them that the Facebook stink was going to foul the whole VC market in the following years. Meta is now worth something like 1.4T.

[tempusalaria]

Facebook grew 100% and had 45% gaap operating margins the year before their IPO.

Facebooks IPO financials were among the best financials at IPO ever

OpenAI has negative 130% adjusted operating margins.

[tptacek]

I don't think OpenAI is about to IPO.

[impulser_]

FB financials were incredibly good at their IPO.

Revenue - 3,711 - 88% YoY growth.

Net Income - 1,000

Cash - 3,908

Tell me how those are bad?

[yifanl]

Facebook made it out by committing click fraud against advertisers on a massive scale, which I don't see as a viable path for sama (even ignoring any legal concerns) considering that openAI isn't a platform company.

[tptacek]

Look, I don't care. At some point we're just arguing about the validity of big tech investing. I don't invest money in tech companies. I don't have a strong opinion about Facebook, or, for that matter, about OpenAI. I'm just saying, you don't need a sci-fi story about AGI to see why people would plow this much money into them. That's all.