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It's not clear how much Yahoo is investing at that valuation, but I hope that the stated reason of re-creating an Alibaba type investment is not the primary driver. Despite the success of Alibaba, a single data point is not a trend (even a spectacular one like Alibaba), and I'm not sure that Yahoo's core competency is/should be picking winners.

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Other reports have said it's in the ballpark of $20M.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/yahoo-nears-investment-in-sna...

Which is peanuts to Yahoo. This basically seems like they're trying to emulate Google Ventures without the full commitment of creating an organization like that. Seems smart.

I fear that Yahoo has little faith in its long-term vision and is placing it in another company. Although there is nothing wrong with this action directly, it does show that their capital is more useful somewhere else rather than within their own company for a similar vertical.

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