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Musical.ly acquired for $1 Billion (!!!) š¤
This newsletter was brought to you bySynterMusical.ly acquired for $1 Billion (!!!) š¤
Three years ago, Musical.ly didnāt exist. According to the Wall Street Journal the company was justĀ acquired for $1 Billion.Ā The official Musical.ly Twitter account retweeted Gary Vaynerchuk's tweet linking to the WSJ article, essentially confirming the acquisition. š°š
The acquirer isĀ Bytedance, maker of the popular Chinese news app Toutiao, whichĀ recently raised money at a valuation of $20 billion. This is the same company that acquired Flipagram earlier this year.
Musical.ly hasĀ taken off with the teens and tweens, who use the app toĀ make lip-syncing videos, and use Musical.ly's live streaming app,Ā Live.ly, to hang out with friends virtually.
The Winners:Ā The company's co-CEOs, employees, investors like Greylock and GGV, and @GaryVee ā who has been loudly singing the company's praises for over a year.
The Losers: Facebook's M&A team will have a stern talking to for missing out on this.
Social is hard, and staying power is even harder to achieve. A billion dollar exit in three years is a wonderful achievement.Ā Congrats to the founders of Musical.ly and the team. š
P.S.Ā Musical.ly cofounder and co-CEO Alex Zhu may have the best Product Hunt username there is. š¬
The acquirer isĀ Bytedance, maker of the popular Chinese news app Toutiao, whichĀ recently raised money at a valuation of $20 billion. This is the same company that acquired Flipagram earlier this year.
Musical.ly hasĀ taken off with the teens and tweens, who use the app toĀ make lip-syncing videos, and use Musical.ly's live streaming app,Ā Live.ly, to hang out with friends virtually.
The Winners:Ā The company's co-CEOs, employees, investors like Greylock and GGV, and @GaryVee ā who has been loudly singing the company's praises for over a year.
The Losers: Facebook's M&A team will have a stern talking to for missing out on this.
Social is hard, and staying power is even harder to achieve. A billion dollar exit in three years is a wonderful achievement.Ā Congrats to the founders of Musical.ly and the team. š
P.S.Ā Musical.ly cofounder and co-CEO Alex Zhu may have the best Product Hunt username there is. š¬
Highlight
Watch out Yelp and Foursquare. Today Facebook launched a direct competitor to discover events, restaurants, and fun things in your city. It's called Facebook Local. šŗ
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