It's interesting that you wrote about and ended with "value". I have not used it, mostly because when I heard about it last year, my 16 year old niece was the one using it. She of course, gave me that teenager look. That one I used to shoot at people so often. The one that goes, "Ugh. You are old." Anyway, value is interesting. Now, I have just said that I don't use the thing or even know much about it, but the demographic seems to be primarily teenagers and some people in their 20's (correct me if I'm wrong). What's more appealing to that demographic than giving the finger to The Man (or whatever the fuck they call that concept now)? This is pure speculation, but might it be possible, given the ephemeral nature of what the app does and apps in general, that the creators are trying to create greater value for their product? Yeah, if I were offered 3 billion I would take it in an instant.
To me, the thing about turning down 3 billion is, it's not money you ever had in the first place, so you can't miss it if you turn it down. I assume the creators had some reason for turning the money down and they might regret it later, but - and I guess I'm going to sound naive - I don't find turning down 3 billion that big of a deal if you have what you consider good reasons for doing it. Especially if you never got in for the money in the first place and the creators of Snapchat didn't. I guess it could be regarded as a return on time investment, considering I don't think they make money on the app now. There's no advertising and it's free and no one gives you money just because people are using your app. (As far as I understand it.) It depends on what I was offered 3bn for. If I turned it down because maintaining creative control was worth it to me then I would not be upset about turning it down at all. I guess my point is that not having that 3bn does not negatively impact their lives. Having the 3bn could positively impact their lives, assuming they (the Snapchat team) were also responsible, hired money managers, etc. But it could also be dangerous if you're not smart about the money.