Remember that rumor circulating about Facebook's IPO in 2007? Aside from posts on the once-popular Silicon Valley tech blog Valleywag, the rumor stems from a music video written and produced by Marc Zuckerberg's sister Randi.
In "Valleyfreude (Failure Is Fun!)," Randi Zuckerberg poked fun at tech giants like Microsoft and Yahoo, while also hinting at the possibility of a Facebook IPO. (Hat tip to Business Insider for pulling the video out of the Internet ether.)
The 2007 music video is a parody of the Avenue Q song "Schadenfreude." Aside from Yahoo, Randi and her entourage also pick on Zynga for its "illegal activities" and Microsoft for not realizing "Zune isn't iPod's equal."
"Sitting in a Yahoo board room when they offer Facebook some dough. No! Valleyfreude," the chorus sings in the video above. "Fuck you, Yahoo. They're going IPO," Randi exclaims during the video.
Facebook had a number of potential suitors in the early days, but Yahoo took the cake when it offered the highest bid at $1 billion in 2006. Zuckerberg caved and verbally agreed to the initial offer, but walked away when Yahoo dropped the price to $800 million. The 2006 offer is a far cry from the more than $100 billion Facebook is worth today.
Check out the gallery below to see the hottest tech IPOs of the past year.
Zynga: $1 Billion
Social gaming company Zynga raised $1 billion in its IPO in December, 2011, the biggest web-related IPO since Google, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/znga-ipo-nasdaq_n_1153518.html?ref=technology" target="_hplink">according to the Associated Press</a>.
Zynga had a valuation of $7 billion before it began trading on the Nasdaq on December 16. By May 17, 2012, the social games company <a href="https://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NASDAQ:ZNGA" target="_hplink">was worth $6.09 billion</a>.
RenRen: $743 Million
RenRen, the Chinese social networking site, raised $743 million in its IPO in May 2011, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/04/us-renren-ipo-idUSTRE7433HI20110504" target="_hplink">according to Reuters</a>.
At the end of its first day of trading, the company had a market value of $7.4 billion.
As of May 17, 2012, RenRen's <a href="https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ARENN" target="_hplink">market capitalization stood at $2.43 billion</a>.
Groupon: $700 Million
The daily deals site <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/04/groupon-ipo-biggest-since-google_n_1075374.html" target="_hplink">raised $700 million in its IPO</a> in November 2011, valuing the company at nearly $13 billion.
As of December 16, 2011, Groupon's value was $14.4 billion, and by May 17, 2012, the <a href="https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ%3AGRPN" target="_hplink">daily deals site's market cap had dropped</a> to $7.92 billion.
LinkedIn: $352 Million
LinkedIn, the professional social network, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/23/linkedins-linkedin_n_865406.html" target="_hplink">raised $352 million</a> in its IPO in May 2011.
According to Reuters, the company was worth $9 billon after its first day of trading on the public market.
As of May 17, 2011, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nyse/linkedin-corp/lnkd" target="_hplink">LinkedIn's value stood at</a> $10.8 billion.
Pandora: $234 Million
Internet radio site Pandora raised $234 million when it went public in June 2011, valuing the company at $2.56 billion, <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/06/14/pandora-ipo-prices-at-16-well-above-range/" target="_hplink">according to <em>The Wall Street Journal</em></a>.
In May 17, 2012, <a href="https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AP" target="_hplink">the company had a value of</a> $1.75 billion.
HomeAway: $216 Million
HomeAway.com, a vacation home rental site, raised $216 million in its IPO in June 2011, <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/homeaway-ipo-raises-216-million-2011-06-29" target="_hplink">according to MarketWatch</a>.
In its first day of trading, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/29/homeaway-ipo-shares-pop-39-percent-market-cap-reaches-3-billion/" target="_hplink">reports TechCrunch</a>, the company had reached a valuation as high as $3 billion.
As of May 2012, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nasdaq/homeaway/away" target="_hplink">HomeAway had a market cap</a> of $2.1 billion
Demand Media: $151 Million
Demand Media, a web content company, or "content farm," <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/2011-ipos-are-underwater_n_976291.html" target="_hplink">raised $151 million</a> in January 2011. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2011/01/26/demand-medias-14b-ipo-post-value-ranks-highly/" target="_hplink"><em>The Wall Street Journal</em> reports</a> that the company was worth a whopping $1.78 billion after its first day on the New York Stock Exchange.
As of May 17, 2011, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nyse/demand-media-inc/dmd" target="_hplink">the company's market cap</a> had fallen to $771.2 million.
In the photo above, Richard Rosenblatt, Chairman and CEO of Demand Media, joins Tyra Banks at the New York Stock Exchange on March 15, 2011.
Angie's List: $130 Million
Angie's List, a site where members can review doctors, contractors and more, raised $130 million in its November 2011 IPO, <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/11/17/angies-list-ipo-performance/" target="_hplink">according to VentureBeat</a>.
The AP notes that at the end of the first day of trading, the company was valued at $904 million.
As of May 17, 2012, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nasdaq/angies-list-inc/angi" target="_hplink">the site had a market cap</a> of $761.7 million.
Yelp: $106.5 Million
Yelp, the business review site, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/01/yelp-ipo-priced_n_1315196.html" target="_hplink">raised $106.5 million in its March 2012 IPO</a>, valuing the company at almost $900 million, according to Reuters.
As of May 17, 2012, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nyse/yelp/yelp" target="_hplink">Yelp had a market value of $1.3 billion</a>.
Zillow: $69 Million
<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/20/zillow-soars-200-percent-in-first-trade-with-over-1-billion-valuation/" target="_hplink">According to TechCrunch</a>, the real estate website Zillow raised about $69 million in its July 2011 IPO. The value of the company <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110720/us-zillow-ipo/" target="_hplink">rose to as high as $1.6 billion</a> on the first day of trading but dropped to $950 million at market close.
As of May 17, 2012, <a href="http://www.dailyfinance.com/quote/nasdaq/zillow-inc/z" target="_hplink">Zillow's market valuation</a> was $1.1 billion.
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