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Comment by fredwilson | Hacker News Reader

zynga has earnings. $87mm of pre-tax cash flow in the first quarter that was just reported. Zynga has had earnings/profits/cash flow for years.

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> zynga has earnings.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/zynga-disappoints-again-141528...

"Net loss was $85.0 million in the quarter compared with net income of $65.1 million a year ago."

I assume you realize the point of having Generally Accepted Accounting Principles is that they are generally accepted.

You could maybe create a market for VC-Accepted Accounting Principles (VAAP), but I thought that died in the first tech bubble. Apparently I was wrong.

GAAP is nonsense. cash flow is what matters. i suggest you go look at all of those non cash charges and see if you think they are really expenses of the business.

Wait, why are generally accepted accounting practices nonsense? And, if so, why are they generally accepted? I don't know much about accounting, so this question is in earnest.

they are generally accepted by the accounting profession. but not by investors. investors tend to focus on cash flow. at least the smart ones do.

> but not by investors.

At least, those investors interested in the appearance of a viable company, as opposed to those who are interested in a bona fide profitable company.

> GAAP is nonsense. cash flow is what matters.

Apparently, GAAP cash flow is news to you. Also, the fact that you're not interested in profitability says everything that I need to know about you and your firm.

This is also half the story. Under GAAP, net income was -85 million last quarter and the quarter preceding it was -435 million.

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