Comments on: Why Facebook needs DST in Russia

There's more to the DST investment in the social-networking site than $200 million.

[duncansnow]

http://blog.jeffreymcmanus.com/157/learnings-is-a-stupid-stupid-word/

[rafe]

I agree! I worked for venture firm for a while that was all about "learnings." I always pictured little furry rodents.

[rdupuy11]

Now the puzzle is coming together.

Russians believe, and not without reason, that anything western is going to overtake and completely overtake the local market, thats because of the sheer love Russians have for western culture.

So they have to be thinking facebook is going to jump in and transplant the more established and high quality sites like mail.ru.

And, they probably have no designs or dreams whatsoever, or any belief or any history to suggest it might be true, that they could jump into the U.S. market and transplant facebook on their own turf.

Frankly I think its a bit wrong headed to think that way, but its good for U.S. companies as long as this aura of invincibility hangs around.

The idea of needing DST partners in some ways is absurd...you don't understand how the internet works, unless the Russian government walls off the internet, they need not do anything inside Russia.

What facebook got, was not expertise, but $200 million.

They extracted a huge sum, and the Russians aren't going to realize right away how badly they got taken, for the simple fact, that they got to buy into a western firm, and to them its a prize of sorts, makes them look all international and modern.

[SergeM256]

Facebook would need local partner if it wants to make money on a local market selling advertisement. How are you going to sell ads in Russia sitting somewhere in California? Somebody has to do leg work to find local businesses, sell advertisement, perhaps pay kick-backs, etc.

[rdupuy11]

By the way, let me state one more thing.

The prime minister over there in Russia, Vladmir Putin, has his detractors, and some of the complaints about him are legitimate, but you should never demonize this person so much that you start granting him supernatural powers. He doesn't have his hand in everything, he doesn't know all the deals, or direct all of them. Frankly a lot of what his speeches are about, are his ideas and suggestions, but they don't have the weight of law behind them.

As a matter of fact, this is the type of deal that the Russian government has been vocally against for years. They think, and from their perspective anyway, I think they are correct, that they should not be looking for ways to invest their money in foreign firms at the highest of premiums, but rather they are preaching that they can compete, with their own tech.

Not that they can, or do...but leaving that point aside, my gut feeling is that this has nothing to do with the Russian government whatsoever, and its exactly the type of thing they don't really approve of, but, they don't shut it down either, because, after all, more or less they are a practicing capitalist system now, even with all the ridiculous red tape, and interference, and other things....initiatives from the wealthier oligarchs go on all the time, and the Russian government can only influence, not command.

[SergeM256]

Social networks do exist in Russia already. Do they really need one more?
Facebook for Russia would be a sort of separate service customized for Russia, practically isolated from English version of Facebook. It has to be in Russian - very few people in Russia know English well enough to use English version. Russians have different issues and interests and they unlikely to get connected with people outside of Russia. Service has to be optimized for dial-up connection - that's what most people have at home. I don't see what Facebook may offer that Russians don't have already.

[dimkas13]

Facebook may offer 200 million people, their friends, relatives, interests, employment (a lot of information!) to russian secret service for their "games. $1 per soul, not a bad bargain...