My question is simply, how are these people getting recognised pre-launch? Is it just a case of the connections they have?
yes
Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
11–20 of 23 posts
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#12Value is only in the eye of the beholder. There is no such thing as "inherent value" like taste, its all relative. For example, $5 for a 1 litre bottle of water sounds expensive right? But if you're in the desert without any other water supply in range, its a bargain. Twitter valued it because it convinced it's self it needed it. Its as simple as that, its the same logic that convinced HP to spunk out however much it…
I don't think that's cynical, I think it's realistic.
I guess what I don't know is, given that, what can we learn from that?
Maybe the lesson is: Be in the right place at the right time with the right product. Which is too general to really make repeatable.
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#13Well, you have to admit it kind of makes sense. Twitter has become too much about persons turning themselves into brands. It's a logical, if a bit cynical continuation. After all, Periscope allows anyone to have a live broadcast show - and perhaps, just perhaps, to become the pointless celebrities of their own lives. I know people who are actively doing, or trying to follow someone else's periscope shows, and it took…
It's not like periscope was the only live streaming concept around...
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#14My question is simply, how are these people getting recognised pre-launch? Is it just a case of the connections they have?
From a Business Insider article:
"A few months ago, Kayvon Beykpour met a fellow Stanford University graduate, Jessica Verrilli, for coffee.
Verrilli is the Director of Corporate Development and Strategy for Twitter. She asked what Beykpour had been working on since leaving Blackboard, an education company that had acquired his prior startup, TerriblyClever. Beykpour fired up his iPhone and showed her Periscope."
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#15Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#16This isn't the first time Twitter has bought a pre-launch company for this much, and the answer is probably the same way that Twitter managed to value Vine at $30 million before its launch: http://allthingsd.com/20121009/twitter-buys-vine-a-video-cli... For any pre-launch company, this would mean looking at the product, the team involved (as in acquihires), and the fit with the parent company.
Looks like Twitter has a good eye and an appetite for risk.
I agree, both Vine and Periscope seem to be good value.
I wondered if they bought many busts for equivalent valuations, fortunately Wikipedia has a list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...
And there's a list of companies I haven't heard of, no idea if they were good buys or not (Gnip, Namo Media and others).
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#17This article about how an early investor valued it is a very interesting read and might give you some insights:
http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/18/can-the-past-help-a-vc-pred...
Also, they were very shrewd with their sales process. I can't recall where I read it, but they made a private pitch where they got people from all the major players, so that must have given Twitter pause.
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#18Value is only in the eye of the beholder. There is no such thing as "inherent value" like taste, its all relative. For example, $5 for a 1 litre bottle of water sounds expensive right? But if you're in the desert without any other water supply in range, its a bargain. Twitter valued it because it convinced it's self it needed it. Its as simple as that, its the same logic that convinced HP to spunk out however much it…
> its the same logic that convinced HP
Or the Yahoo/Broadcast.com decision, to use the term logic loosely
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#19Timing is my guess. Maybe Twitter felt like getting the team and the technology now and then was worth exponentially more than MAYBE having it a few months down the road.
Re: Ask HN: How did Twitter value Periscope at $100M before launching?
#20This article about how an early investor valued it is a very interesting read and might give you some insights: http://techcrunch.com/2015/10/18/can-the-past-help-a-vc-pred... Also, they were very shrewd with their sales process. I can't recall where I read it, but they made a private pitch where they got people from all the major players, so that must have given Twitter pause.
Great article thanks. I wish more VC did this kind of thing.