Update: Learnvest has an interesting infographic on their post about the Facebook IPO and who owns Facebook. This data was gathered by the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian.

If you were like me this morning, you woke up early wondering if Facebook was eager enough to file their intent to go public at 9am EST. Sadly, here on the west coast, at 6am, there wasn’t a peep about it. My Twitter stream wasn’t flooded with people retweeting article after article from sites like  TechCrunch, Mashable, All Things D, Pando Daily or even from MG Seigler. Turns out, as All Things D’s Kara Swisher so eloquently points out, there seems to be some sort of delay in the filing and everyone was just eager to find out when would Facebook decide to make the inevitable move.

Well wait no more, because as of a few minutes ago, Facebook just filed their Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to go public. Yes, that’s right…get ready folks because one of the largest social networks in the past few years is going to enter the world of the stock market and, if experts and analysts are correct, will become one of the largest publically traded companies in the world. And as a result, millionaires and maybe even billionaires will be made. Facebook has also enlisted the help of Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, and Goldman, Sachs & Co. to help them through this process.

Now that Facebook has officially filed its papers to go public, under the rules of the Securities Act of 1933, Facebook will need to wait until the SEC staff declares the registration statement effective. And we will basically see all sorts of news severely limited or blocked because laws are in place to limit what information Facebook and related parties are able to share with the public.

The company intends to raise $5 billion in their Initial Public Offering . In 2011, they received over $1 billion on sales of $3.7 billion with over 845 million monthly users. Where does all of this come from? Advertising and platform developer payments.

MSNBC has analyzed the filing and they are reporting:

Facebook’s billionaire chairman Mark Zuckerberg, 27, made $500,000 in base salary last year, plus a $220,000 first-half bonus, apparently making him the company’s highest-paid employee, at least in cash compensation, according to an initial look at the filing. His salary will go to a nominal $1 a year at his request effective in 2013, Facebook said in the filing.

The New York Times’ Bits blog has really scrutinized Facebook’s filing. In their post, they’ve posted some interesting tidbits:

Perhaps after the long-awaited filing for their IPO, analysts and the public are wondering what the recognized stock ticker symbol will be. The New York Times says that Facebook will seek to have “FB” for its shares. And there was rumors of a war between exchanges on who would receive Facebook’s prized listing? Well that remains unclear as the filing doesn’t mention it.

And if you don’t think that Facebook gives a damn about Google+, then you’re wrong. Claire Cain Miller from the NY Times reports that the filing has more space allotted to it and the social network states “we compete broadly with Google’s social networking offerings, including Google+, which it has integrated with certain of its products, including search and Android.” Will wonders never cease…this should make for an interesting competition both in the stock market and in the future who will come out victorious.

More about these fun facts can be found here.

Mashable has embedded the SEC filing on their site so I’m embedding it here for your convenience.

Facebook S 1

You can read the entire SEC filing here.

Photo Credit: Jeanette Runyon/Flickr

In 2011, the tech world saw some significant companies go public. Many wondered if companies like Pandora, Groupon, Zynga, RenRen, LinkedIn, HomeAway, Angie’s List, and Demand Media signaled that the tech boom had finally seen its second revival. Of course we all remember the tech bubble bursting a few years ago, but with signs pointing to more public offerings soon, what could this mean for the industry? TheStreet reports that just last year, there were 44 tech companies that had an IPO, nearly double the offerings from all other sectors, but there are still many more being planned for 2012 — albeit only a few may have the same values and predicted price tag as last year. In fact, four out of the five Internet companies to have gone public came out of last year’s class. But here in 2012, perhaps the most widely anticipated and watched will be Facebook.

For the past couple of years, the community, investors, and the industry have been cautiously watching the social network to see whether it would go public. After all, it seemed only logical since Facebook appears to be too large of an entity to be acquired. And now, just this week, signs are once again pointing towards Facebook finally getting ready to file for it’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). Analysts are predicting that once the IPO is filed and Facebook does indeed go public, it could easily vault into being one of the largest public companies in the world, joining the ranks of McDonald’s, Amazon.com, and Bank of America. In fact, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the valuation is already being estimated at somewhere between $75 to $100 billion.

Will people start to buy into Facebook? Most likely since it’s one of the hottest startups to go public this year and still looks to have some steam for the next few. eMarketer has reported that Facebook’s revenue has increased over the past three years, all without going public. In 2011, they generated nearly $4.27 billion, more than double the $2 billion they made in 2010. In 2012, they are estimated to increase that more, this time to $5.78 billion. The numbers just keep on going for them, and with those increased revenues, so do the number of users on the site. In 2011, Facebook reported that they have over 750 million users — with more companies starting to extend their business to the site, how many more users will there be by the end of the year? Probably over 1 billion.

Are the stars in alignment for Facebook to go public? Reports are that private trading has been suspended on secondary markets and in a Bloomberg interview, an analyst guessed that this was because it was paving the way for the IPO. The rationale, as reported by Mashable, by Sam Hamadeh, CEO of PrivCo:  “Facebook and companies who do this don’t want to expose themselves to lawsuits related to the fact that some people had it before others and were able to trade on it…” Another hint for the filing is something that Fortune magazine reported earlier that Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is set to give a keynote speech at Harvard Business School in May. They theorize that it would be unusual for Ms. Sandberg to give a public talk while Facebook is undergoing its filing, but with her speaking at Davos on Sunday and next at Harvard in May, perhaps now is the time when Facebook would want to implement the SEC-mandated quiet period restrictions? Whatever the intent, it has gotten people’s attention and made eager investors more riled up and eager to buy a piece of the social network.

Infographic: Mashable has posted an informative infographic about Facebook’s IPO

Who knows what will happen this Wednesday as this is all still just a rumor. But aside from Apple rumors, Facebook’s IPO is one of those things in the tech industry that just has everyone chomping at the bits eager with anticipation. Below is a video from Mashable on everything you need to know about the impending filing.

Update: The New York Post has published that both the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ are apparently battling for the prized listing for Facebook. There’s even speculation that they have reserved $FB as their stock ticker that can be used on both exchanges. The article mentions that these exchanges feel Facebook would add some “much-needed panache” to help beef up any tech “street cred”.

Photo Credit: Laughing Squid

I’ve been thinking about the Demand Media IPO story in the context of how it affects the publishing industry and I’ve come to this conclusion. While SEO plays get search traffic, it’s unlikely readers really trust the source.

Think about it. If you’re looking for an answer, would you rather get a penny-per-word article with all the right keywords, or do you want info from the people who offer you useful solutions?

When an article gives me the answers I want, I’m happy.  When I’m happy I not only bookmark it, share it and add it to my feeds, but I also return to it again and again. These are the trusted web experiences that leave me open to recommendations.

So for me, content mills get the clicks, and well-curated stories and editorial teams get my advocacy and referral dollars. That being said, there’s stiff competition amongst trusted web properties — and speed and quantity sadly still play a role in who’ll earn the most ad revenue.

I just wrote a post on ways good publishers can increase their output while maintaining their quality. I’d like to continue collecting these sorts of resources and adding to this one. If you’re interested in seeing the superior signals rise above the noise, and you’ve got articles or topics to suggest, ping me (@suzyperplexus) or let us all know about them in the comments below.

by Brian Solis

Recession? What recession? The IPO seems to be making a rare appearance.

According to TechCrunch, FriendFinder Networks, formerly Penthouse Media Group, has filed to go public.

Here’s the S-1.

Renaissance Capital out of Russia is navigating the process. The company hopes to raise ~$460 million which earmarked to pay off the nearly half billion dollars in current debt .

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by Brian Solis

Panic leads to the further declination and eradication of progress.

Yes the market is slipping.

Yes, the financial market is resetting.

But the U.S economy, actually, the global economy, is a yo-yo on an escalator. It might go up and down, but eventually, it’s always going up.

Those who do not proactively contribute to the economy’s escalation are taking away from its ability to instill confidence and rally support.

So instead of running into a cave, shaking your head in disbelief, crying aloud, or scaring the sh!t out of everyone, ask yourself, “what are you going to do about it?”

VCs are calling for startups to cut expenses.

Entrepreneurs hear that directive clearly as, “cut expenses.”

But, which expenses do they cut?

Here’s a simple answer…Don’t cut or eliminate the expenses that strategically and cost effectively help you and your business engage customers and also the respective influencers who reach them and their social graph.

This is the time for entrepreneurs to realize that this is their opportunity to shine – especially if they have built something that businesses or real people can use to streamline their workflow or improve day-to-day routine.

In a down economy, tomorrow’s leaders are born today. It takes vision, focus, and a hyper-connected sense of what customers are looking for and where.

There is still valuable, helpful, and marketable innovation taking place today that people are willing to embrace.

Blindly cutting expenses for the sake of cutting expenses only fuels the hysteria.

VC’s, help educate the people running your investments on how to best navigate these rough waters.

Remember, any company that intentionally pulls itself from the radar screens of potential and existing customers will find itself on a direct path to the Dead Pool.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Sequoia Capital (via GigaOM)

Via Inquisitr

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by Brian Solis

With the market meltdown underway, or better described as a reset in the financial services industry, people are crying that the sky is falling and predicting that the current tech bubble is about to burst.

Wait, we’re in a bubble?

While the amount of VC money available and deals are steadily rising, we’re still not seeing anything that would resemble a bubble or a resession in the tech sector quite yet.

Most deals are still modest.

No IPOs to really point to.

Although we were set for a scare, our industry barometer, Google (NASDQ:GOOG), is rebounding nicely.

However, there are some interesting things in play that could set the stage for some milestone exits. And, what happens from there is anyone’s guess.
For example, I was watching the news about Bear Stearns, an 80-year old American financial institution, selling for only $236 million. While tech hasn’t necessarily felt the burn of the current or impending recession (however you want to look at it), we’re certainly not teeing things up in a way that make sense to the rest of the world.

Just to give you some perspective:

Widget phenomenon Slide is rumored to have a $500 million valuation.

Ning’s valuation is reported to be $214 million.

Meebo is looking to raise $25-30 million, which could put its valuation somewhere between $200 – $250 million.

We are all well aware of Facebook’s whopping $15 billion valuation.

What’s the exit for these companies? Acquisitions or IPOs of course. Media and also tech companies are keeping a watchful eye on these and many other companies as prime acquisition targets to transcend their existing business into the new economy.

But what’s different this time over Web 1.0 is critical for analyzing what lies ahead for the tech sector.

Companies are using the money to build businesses and communities with many already generating revenue. The focus seems more about strengthening the foundation for scale rather than cashing out.

That’s an important point that reminds everyone that we are still feeling vulnerable and humbled from the last go-round (hopefully anyway).

There are also reports that predict that social media will go unaffected by the recession as companies learn and realize that their marketing and advertising dollars are stretched effectively in social networks over traditional media.

So, for now, it seems like this time, the recession is “theirs” and not “ours.”

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by Brian Solis

Al Gore-backed Current TV is making a run at a $100 million IPO. Wow

The Emmy award-winning network launched in 2005 banked 2007 annual revenue of $63.7 million, which is up 68% from $37.8 million in 2006.

Current is reportedly the only 24/7 cable and satellite television network and Internet site produced and programmed in collaboration with its audience. Current connects young adults with what is going on in their world, from their perspective, in their own voices.

With the launch of Current.com, a fully integrated web and TV platform, viewers can participate in shaping an ongoing stream of news and information that is compelling, authentic and relevant to them.

I ran into Al Gore at Paragon in San Francisco last year, which is down the street from Current’s HQ. He actually stopped to talk for a bit. That was nice.

Back to the IPO.

The proposed IPO is set for NASDAQ under the ticker “CRTM.” No word on timing or shares yet.

Current is reaching 51 million homes, of which, 41 million are in the US.

More at PaidContent

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by Victor Karamalis

Yesterday (10-Oct 07), Om Malik of GigaOm showed an interesting graphic of Facebook’s traffic dropping using Comscore’s information for the first time since February 2007 as shown here on Compete.com. Although this may be too premature to say that all those Facebooks API’s have lost traction, there could be a bunch of factors involved. So, before everyone stops to make Facebook Apps and jump over to other social networks, let us see if it is just an off month with some plausible explanations.

First of all, Facebook has been the social network of choice for most undergraduate students. They have just started the school year. In addition, people that have been away from work for the month of August had to play catch up in the office in September. Also, Compete‘s numbers only focus on unique visitors from the United States. This may be the case as well for Comscore’s Media Metrix Service. As of this post, information concerning Comscore’s metrics could not be obtained. Global traffic needs to be taken into consideration (just like global markets in the financial space).

Let’s just make the most obvious point. This has only been for one month. Although Om’s popped out that spreadsheet from his Fedora seems scary for Facebook with more than a nine percent decline (he will contact FB tomorrow on this if it’s true), the primary concern for Facebook is if the bottom line has been affected. This includes any large multi million dollar advertising deals with the likes of Microsoft as reported over the summer that are in the pipeline. Continued traffic decline could hurt future deals like this and potentially jeopardize its multi-billion dollar IPO valuation a few notches down. On the other hand, ambitious Facebook application developers still have over 24 million users to target. But, it is just too soon to get this feeling of panic.