I want $100 Million

I want money, and so does twitter.  I read on TechCrunch (I swear, I go to other blogs) that twitter has raised close to $100 million.  They reported last week that,

“Fast growing startup Twitter will soon be joining a select group of startups with private venture round valuations of $1 billion, we’ve heard from multiple sources. CEO Evan Williams disclosed the round to employees at a recent all hands meeting.”

They initially reported that twitter was only looking to raise a measly $50 million.

Well today the Wall Street Journal posted breaking news that number was closer to $100 million.  WSJ reported

“The investor group includes mutual fund giant T. Rowe Price and private-equity firm Insight Venture Partners, which are new investors to Twitter.”  There were also other smaller investors in this round including venture-capital firms Spark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners.

The big question though, is why are people investing in a company that makes no real revenue.  Executives at twitter told the WSJ that they are discussing ways to get some real income, “including advertising and premium services targeted at businesses.”

Twitter need to be careful though not to make their users mad by putting ads next to their tweets.  They may have to deal with an outburst similar to yahoo and their flickr users.  Yahoo got ripped a new one by users after all they did was brand something that they already own.