"MySpace by FaceBook" -- that's kind of arguable because MySpace was acquired and I really don't know who's making more money than whom. What about Digg? As for Google eating those companies you listed up..heck Google eats everyone up.

Having a hacker as a co-founder is always better than hiring which I stated. The point is, having a team of just solely hackers is not always better than having a team of a non-hacker and hacker.