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Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

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Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you could describe the core use case? I was nodding my head all through that comment because I feel like I should like Snapchat, seems like everyone else does, but after each of several attempts I just uninstalled it because I would open it and wonder what I should be doing on it. I just didn't find myself experiencing things that were worth pulling out my phone for but not worth keeping permanently. And I just…

It's great for a light, whimsical touch. Throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Photos of yourself making a fool of yourself, everywhere, all the time. Stupid puns, stupid jokes, stupid selfies, stupid stuff which is really the best stuff, if you ask me :). No ultra well thought out filtered perfect square omg look at the color chroma jesus on my toast kind of photos. That'd be a waste of time. Just passing tho…

Do people really have that much time to create and view junk? Random photos of whatever? I'm unsure how this is better than SMS/MMS/iMessage, or how it has more value. Twitter with pics and video in private groups?

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's great for a light, whimsical touch. Throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Photos of yourself making a fool of yourself, everywhere, all the time. Stupid puns, stupid jokes, stupid selfies, stupid stuff which is really the best stuff, if you ask me :). No ultra well thought out filtered perfect square omg look at the color chroma jesus on my toast kind of photos. That'd be a waste of time. Just passing tho…

Do people really have that much time to create and view junk? Random photos of whatever? I'm unsure how this is better than SMS/MMS/iMessage, or how it has more value. Twitter with pics and video in private groups?

Have you been in a new relationship recently? Anecdotally it's pretty common for a couple to send pictures to one another of their faces through Snapchat - just nice to see each other and see what each other is doing. This is a classic Snapchat use case.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#113

Really interested in learning if Snap is more Facebook or Twitter. This could be a big litmus test for the tech IPO. 2 things I'm very interested in: 1) If the rumors are correct that they are looking to raise 4 Billion at a roughly $40 Billion valuation. If you assume that their absolute pie in the sky max valuation ever is similar to what facebook is now, roughly 340 Billion, then that's not alot of upside for inve…

>1) If the rumors are correct that they are looking to raise 4 Billion at a roughly $40 Billion valuation.

Was under the impression Snapchat was given a $3-5 billion valuation.

I find it hard to accept that Snapchat is worth the same as Tesla and SpaceX combined.

In other words, is [a 400-employee company whose core product works only on cell phones to show annoying ads to teenagers as they send each other photos, and whose annual income is barely $100m] worth the same as [a 15,000-employee company that produces autonomous electric vehicles, with a net income of a few billion/year] and [a 5,000-employee aerospace company that builds self-landing rockets, with income of a few billion/year] combined? I don't bloody think so, especially given what an asshole Evan Spiegel has been in public lately.

If anything, this is a sign that we're in a soon-to-pop bubble. If Snapchat ever goes public, it deserves to die the same slow death on the stock market as Twitter did earlier this year, or a violent pets.com style death.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#115
post #14

Maybe I'm alone here, but I love the way Evan and Snapchat, er Snap, communicate as a company. They are incredibly tight lipped, but also very honest and blunt. They've talked about this IPO for years, and made no secret about becoming a camera company.

You might love it, but the rest of us really don't.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#116
post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any indication they can monetize their audience? Twitter claimed to. How is snapchat different?

They have the ability to monetize unexplored territory like face recognition and AR in real, meaningful ways. They've built an amazing technical team and are in position to execute on ideas that could have an incredible impact on the way humans interact in real life. They are among a few tech companies whose tech could cause a cultural paradigm shift akin to what we saw with the introduction of the smartphone. This s…

While I agree they are working on cool things, this is entirely separate from an ability to monetize it. This is the part I doubt; I don't see anything that indicates they would succeed where twitter failed.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#117
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That isn't "old man" that is practical thinking. Kids don't have any money!!!!!!!!!!

But kids do have income increases and their highest years of earning ahead of them. That has to be worth something.

It will be worth something when they actually spend those dollars. Until then, we are talking about potential. Remember the dotcom days, lots of potential.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heck yeah, The wave of the future is filters of selfies! Ranks right up there with Insulin, Oil extraction, Bridge construction, Mining, and more! Who would've thought?

You'd be surprised then to learn that Line makes $270M/yr on stickers. Think of these as fashion items. Trend-driven, fleeting, and a way for people to make statements about themselves. Many here might not have much interest in fashion, but there's no denying it is a massive industry. As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value a…

> As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value as virtual fashion goods.

This version of the future sounds pretty horrible. One could conceivably put a nudity/porn filter on everyone... or much, much worse. The hacks are going to be epic... can you imagine your fresh new filter getting a ddos attack? Or someone sending out grotesque filters as malware...

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heck yeah, The wave of the future is filters of selfies! Ranks right up there with Insulin, Oil extraction, Bridge construction, Mining, and more! Who would've thought?

You'd be surprised then to learn that Line makes $270M/yr on stickers. Think of these as fashion items. Trend-driven, fleeting, and a way for people to make statements about themselves. Many here might not have much interest in fashion, but there's no denying it is a massive industry. As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value a…

Actually I will go further. I live in Japan and use Line to communicate with everyone except really old people. Stickers are as basic as language. It is an evolution of our current mode of communication and is quite expressive. Like all languages, it occurs somewhat spontaneously, but I can tell you for sure that Line has the lightning in a bottle right now whereas Apple, Facebook, Snap, etc. just don't get it. Like with the original emoji, Japan is a ripe environment for this pictographic language evolution stuff. By the time it becomes cool in Los Angeles, Japan will have leveled up a few times. Related Aside: I'm posting this comment from the Nozomi Shinkansen at 300km/hr...the future is a beautiful place.

Re: Snapchat has reportedly filed confidentially for its massive IPO

#120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be surprised then to learn that Line makes $270M/yr on stickers. Think of these as fashion items. Trend-driven, fleeting, and a way for people to make statements about themselves. Many here might not have much interest in fashion, but there's no denying it is a massive industry. As augmented reality becomes big and wearables become mainstream, filters like Snapchat offers will clearly grow in demand and value a…

Actually I will go further. I live in Japan and use Line to communicate with everyone except really old people. Stickers are as basic as language. It is an evolution of our current mode of communication and is quite expressive. Like all languages, it occurs somewhat spontaneously, but I can tell you for sure that Line has the lightning in a bottle right now whereas Apple, Facebook, Snap, etc. just don't get it. Like…

It's fleeting. There are lots of social phenomena in Japan that have never taken off in the States and vice-versa.

Remember when Zynga and Farmville were the best thing since sliced bread? Remember the dotcom days when companies were worth millions(Billions) based on potential? That is what is happening here. There is no hook to keep these users for the next 5 to 10 years. Something "cooler/hipper/awesomer/badasser" is being coded right now...

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