“The company was profitable. We probably would have pursued an IPO. The business was accelerating”, LiveRail CEO Mark Trefgarne tells me in his first interview about how his company was acquired by Facebook in July for what multiple sources say was $500 million. Still, rather than go public, Trefgarne said his team realized that “If we work hard at Facebook, we have a real opportunity to take over the world…actually that’s not the best phrase [laughs]. Maybe not take over the world, but do some really industry changing stuff.” With TV viewing down 4% and online video streaming up 60% in the last year according to Nielsen, FaceRail could soak up the flood of vido ad dollars headed to the Internet.
