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Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

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Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#31

Post by traviswingo »

jdross wrote: post #8
traviswingo wrote: post #2

This is total bs. $54 million in revenue with an $18 billion valuation? I understand investing in the "future value" of companies, but this shit is getting out of hand, lol.

Your comment reminds me of this incredibly wrong post by DHH: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/2585-facebook-is-not-worth-33...

Alright, touche. Facebook is actually worth what the market claims it to be worth, because of the large amount of people in one place, all willing to tell the world exactly what their interests are. Its a marketing heaven.

Snapchat might be worth a lot, but I'm just sick of companies like this being valued so high, simply because they provide literally no benefit to society.

If Snapchat went down tomorrow, would it really affect anyone? Nope, the World would keep on spinning.

It's time to incentivize people to make a difference, not build photo sharing apps. There are real problems in the world that desperately need to be solved, yet we're getting rich off dick picks and calling ourselves the "innovator of the century." Yeah...no thanks.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#32

Post by overcast »

iliaznk wrote: post #25
overcast wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People growing up will not be using Snapchat, for the exact reason you stated.

Well, Mark Suster and Justin Kan are just two examples of gorwnups using Snapchat successfully for video blogging.

They're using it as a business, not what the other 99.9% of people are using it for.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#33

Post by agumonkey »

kneel wrote: post #3
traviswingo wrote: post #2

This is total bs. $54 million in revenue with an $18 billion valuation? I understand investing in the "future value" of companies, but this shit is getting out of hand, lol.

Their demograph is just graduating high school. They will be very valuable in the future.

So that's the whole thing ? cultural stockholm syndrom ?

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#34

Post by rm_-rf_slash »

bqe wrote: post #28

Can someone who uses Snapchat routinely tell me why you use it routinely? I've been using it for a few weeks to send a picture or two to the few people I know who use it, but it seems pretty limited. I follow a few "famous" people on it, and they basically just post random images of them walking around NYC or them traveling. I don't yet see the benefit.

It's more immediate than a text, less intrusive than a call. With a snapchat, you're more likely to open it and respond quickly than a text message, because just like the time limit on images, once the time has passed, the moment is gone. It keeps you hooked in.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#35

Post by argonaut »

People need to stop focusing their criticism on how stupid the app is or how they're going to lose all their users. It's almost a meme by now of how people say this every time Snapchat is brought up. By now it's a foregone conclusion, and requires active ignorance and not really caring to keep an open mind, to continue to hold onto that belief in the face of tremendous evidence that 1) Snapchat is very popular, 2) Snapchat has been around for 5 years now and hasn't gone anywhere, and 3) Users of Snapchat use it very actively.

Personally, I think one good way to see why people use the product is to 1) be in a relationship, and 2) regularly send pictures of what you're doing / funny things you've encountered / your face, back and forth with your partner.

Where I feel like there is legitimate criticism of Snapchat is their ability to monetize. Unlike Google, there is no purchasing intent. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, there is little ability to target users beyond age/gender/location (and no amount of computer vision in the short term will change that). Their Discover / Live products (which allow you to see snippets from brands / news channels / publishers) are promising but unlike the core product, I think there is legitimate reason to be doubtful about the appeal of these products because they have nothing to do with chatting with friends.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#36

Post by bduerst »

jdross wrote: post #8
traviswingo wrote: post #2

This is total bs. $54 million in revenue with an $18 billion valuation? I understand investing in the "future value" of companies, but this shit is getting out of hand, lol.

Your comment reminds me of this incredibly wrong post by DHH: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/2585-facebook-is-not-worth-33...

To save you a search query, Facebook today has a market cap of $342 B (this 2010 article says they're not worth $33 B).

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#37

Post by agumonkey »

mikeryan wrote: post #12

There's been a bunch of apps out there that have taken off and completely surprised me. But I can't think of another succes that makes me feel out of touch more than a 20B valuation for what launched as "the app that sends disappearing images". Kudos to the team though. Evan and Co, seem to have made a lot of very smart decisions in growing this business.

They're secretly feeding Google TensorFlow with images ... they have to do something rather than just being a temporary pipe.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#39

Post by wtvanhest »

Every single person here seems negative about Snapchat.

I am 30+, use it occasionally, and see more and more of my older friends signing up. Especially those friends far away from the echo chamber. This fundraising feels smart for investors who want a great return and for the company to use to get to an IPO.

If you don't use Snapchat, or haven't used it in a few years, it is probably time you take a second look.

Re: Snapchat raised $1.8B in a Series F round

#40

Post by chubot »

argonaut wrote: post #35

People need to stop focusing their criticism on how stupid the app is or how they're going to lose all their users. It's almost a meme by now of how people say this every time Snapchat is brought up. By now it's a foregone conclusion, and requires active ignorance and not really caring to keep an open mind, to continue to hold onto that belief in the face of tremendous evidence that 1) Snapchat is very popular, 2) Sn…

Don't forget that lots of people said Facebook wasn't monetizable either, just a few years ago.
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