Interesting data today from Josh Kopelman's "Redeye VC" blog.
Back in November, Facebook launched their new SocialAds platform. Like many other folks, I decided to spend $50 to check out the platform [...] I decided to test Facebook's targeting mechanism by running targeted ads to employees of large Internet companies -- including Yahoo and Microsoft.
Nice. How did they perform?
The Yahoo ad received 21,291 impressions with only 64 clicks (CTR ~0.30%), while the Microsoft ad received 0 clicks with 1,058 impressions. (Errr... that's a CTR of 0.00%, Mr. Blutarsky)
Josh does not speculate why there were 20x the impressions for Y! ad vs. the MSFT. Perhaps a saturation of Valley folk in Facebook vs. Redmond?
Anyhow, he then he decided to run the ads again, after Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Y! The performance this time?
On the Yahoo side, there was a 260% increase in clickthrough rate -- from 0.3% to 0.86%. That is not surprising. But on the Microsoft side, I was really surprised. When I ran around 1,000 impressions before, the ad did not receive one click -- now the same advertisement received 15 clicks. Microsoft's clickthrough rate increased from 0% to 1.19%. Maybe it's not just Microsoft's shareholders who are unhappy.
Also interesting. Yes, perhaps not surprisingly there are more folks in the big houses that are thinking about jumping ship. But then the following conclusion:
As talent leaves the big Internet/technology companies, there will be a flood of experienced folks looking to join (or start) startup companies. And that's a flood I look forward to.
Hmm. A flood of folks, to be certain. But are these really the types that are likely to join -- let alone found -- start-ups?
I have one word for you: Brickhouse. And I'm not talking about the Commodores version -- I'm talking about Yahoo's.
Any company that needs to start a separate division to spark new product initiative is dead. It's an admission of failure. Elvis left the building eons ago.
I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of smart and talented people left at Yahoo, but the last 36 months have been a bonanza in funding and new ventures in the valley. Anyone that was interested in jumping from Y! or MSFT to a smaller initiative has already done so.
So while there may be a flood of 1000+ folks hitting the streets in the weeks or months to come, I'd be really surprised if a significant number of them end up joining or beginning new companies.