It did the IPO on NASDAQ, like FB, but 13 months later in the middle of the dot com bust, Krispy Kreme moved over to the NYSE. The stock climbed to $50 per share in 2003 and the IPO was at $21 so that is a gain of 235% in a bearish market. After some accounting scandals and SEC investigation the stock fell out. But the execs blamed the low carb craze (Atkins) for the declines. Many say that KK spent the IPO money opening too many stores too quickly after being in business for 60 years.

FB starts in 2004, it is lauded in 2009. It continues to grow internationally but in the US it loses 7 million active users around April of 2011 and term "FaceBook fatigue" is coined. Some see this as geometric growth that burned itself out. In other words it hit a saturation point fairly rapidly and now needs to maintain it's user base and fight off competitors -- this requires different marketing than the period of rapid growth. Also it has now gotten bad press about privacy issues and 'following users after they logoff' and has not responded effectively. So while KK over expanded after its IPO, FB seems to have peaked before its IPO.

FB needs to spend its IPO money not on expanding like KK, but rather on re-invigorating its user base, fighting or buying competitors, and doing much better PR management which will get tougher after the public disclosures of how they actually make money kicks in.

Thank you.

Must be mentioned that the Facebook IPO was clouded by insider seling of stocks, which came to light rather quickly.

Thought that this was a hotdeal, HAH, now they bought into a giant bubble shaped cow that only made a handful of people rich....

Small investors are wannabe's who the uber rich rely on to cover their losses.

and bought when it dropped. Big brokerages are good at short selling and small investors generally don't do much of it. You have to borrow the shares you sell from an entity that owns some, eg. a brokerage.

Looks like they're still not convinced that FB's business model is a sound one.

I know I'm not.

the amount of revenue that can be charged per user falls as users have more and more options. A big problem for FB right now is smart phones and non-PC access to FB because you can't push ads through those devices as the screen is too small. FB has a very low engagement ratio in terms of clicks per view -- Google is 1 click per 50 exposures; FB is believed to be around 1 per thousand. But the underlying point was that ALL ad-based revenue for ALL internet media companies continues a long slow decline. He goes on to say that FaceBook could take down the entire ad-revenue based model by diluting the value of ad exposures to a level where no one can make money anymore.

Here it is if you're interested:
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/40437/

And one more thought on Krispy Kreme. When they did their IPO they got buy-in from their customers: the IPO succeeded in attracting small investors who like the donuts. Once they bought stock, they become marketers for Krispy Kreme recommending the donuts to friends and to the office manager. I think FB was hoping for something similar. It fits their idea that they can turn the whole world into an online Tupperware party.

I think the best positioned platform for mobile phone ads is YouTube, easily. Perfect fit.

WTF Caveat Emptor people. Caveat Emptor.

to buy Enron stock in 2002 AFTER the scandal and the fall.

"Last October, after Enron announced $1.2 billion in losses and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened its investigation, the fund bought $7.1 million more of Enron stock. After Enron's chief financial officer, Andrew S. Fastow, was ousted on Oct. 24, the fund bought $16.1 million. When Enron announced last November that it had overstated its profits, the fund bought still another $11.7 million."

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/27/us/enron-s-many-strands-fallout-the-enron-scandal-grazes-another-bush-in-florida.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

But I get your point.

possibly want to use a new version of Instagram as a platform to extend the FB's reach. But it also I think shows that Zuck and friends are out of ideas of their own. The IPO money will fuel more of these aquisitions IMHO, both adjacent technologies and emerging competitors will be bought (like what MicroSoft used to do).

The square (Polaroid-style) aspect ratio leaves room for ads when displayed on 4:3 screens.