Instagram Founders Were Helped by Bay Area Connections

When Facebook so chooses it can make startup entrepreneurs and the venture capitalists that invest in them very rich.

Tumblr seemed to be playing hard-to-get for a little while, but no longer: Yahoo! has approved a $1.1 billion deal to purchase the hip social-blogging platform. According to AllThingsD, the tech giant’s board unanimously approved the all-cash deal on Sunday, although it won’t be officially announced until Monday. In the meantime, the news is, of course, making the rounds on the web, and plenty of key players in the tech and business worlds are already weighing in.

Tumblr seemed to be playing hard-to-get for a little while, but no longer: Yahoo! has approved a $1.1 billion deal to purchase the hip social-blogging platform. According to AllThingsD, the tech giant’s board unanimously approved the all-cash deal on Sunday, although it won’t be officially announced until Monday. In the meantime, the news is, of course, making the rounds on the web, and plenty of key players in the tech and business worlds are already weighing in.

Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion last spring in a defensive measure. The main reason people use Facebook is to share photos, and Instagram was threatening this dominance on mobile, where consumer computer usage is going.

Facebook's $1 billion gobbling up of Instagram has sent disgruntled fans of the quirky photo-sharing app to the delete button.Twitter and other online platforms buzzed Wednesday with depictions of Facebook as a corporate monster trampling over a defenseless community of creative, free-spirited types."Guess it's time to delete my instagram app before Facebook ruins it," Twitter user Charlie Robinson griped.In another tweet, Jay El Nino Garcia moaned: "Nice facebook just bought instagram. Another thing to delete."

Instagram snaps of the delicious meal you're about to eat are such a cliché, they played a starring role in CollegeHumor's hilarious takedown of the Facebook-owned photo-sharing site.

By Shelly Palmer: When Facebook (FB) bought Instagram for $1B last year, it was a startup less than 2 years old. Its photo app attracted over 30m users and sported an eye-popping user growth curve.