The simple lesson of Google and YouTube, Facebook and Instagram

Google bought YouTube for $1.65 billion in 2006. In 2014, YouTube alone will be responsible for about 20 percent of all digital ad revenue, top $1 billion in video ad revenue, and is quite possibly worth about $40 billion right now.

Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. It's now apparently worth $35 billion, two years later.

For sure, you can …