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Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

investor.snap.com

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Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#102
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know anything about this overall, but I have some interesting anecdotes that show the power of Facebook around the world. I've done some pretty substantial traveling throughout Asia, and just about everyone with a smartphone that I've met also has a Facebook account (excluding China). In Myanmar (aka Burma) the strict military government restricted internet usage until they turned over control of the governme…

Facebook saw the "we're saturating the number of people on the Internet" wall years ago. That's why they zero-rate the app, and integrated SMS notifications and had J2ME and SIM apps.

They also have a "free basics" program which partners with networks (I think primarily developing countries) and gives people access to Facebook with no network/bandwidth costs. Seems like a win-win? https://developers.facebook.com/docs/internet-org

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#103

2B in employee stock compensation!

Absolutely disgusting. An issue with tech in general is the equity rewards are far too generous - especially at the top. I have direct plays in a few technology companies I admire and some of them annoy me with the ridiculous grants. We're looking at like 10% dilution over a year for some companies that aren't profitable. And it seems very concentrated at the management level.

For SNAP it's especially bad considering that the common shares are non-voting if I recall.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#104

The bubble is bursting.

The SNAP bubble or tech or equities in general?

Many tech companies are posting growth inline with guidance and performing quite well. Many publicly listed companies are performing quite well in terms of projections. Condemning an entire sector because a single company shit the bed in their first earnings call is a bit much.

Consider that even after this huge drop they are still at their IPO price. Not that I'm a buyer of this company (I don't understand them - doesn't mean they are bad but just that I don't understand them enough to invest directly in them) but it isn't a disaster.

I've seen bubbles burst. You'll know it. This isn't it. This is a correction.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and I both. Facebook numbers have been a scam for a long time. I look at most social media as I look at multilevel marketing... it's all sunshine and rainbows until it simply collapses. There are no 100 year businesses in social.

I think you're severely underestimating the scale and reach of Facebook. There's a reason it's a ~450B company. It really does have that many users. Even if a solid 20% of them are all fake accounts (which I don't think the percentage is that high), it's still a large part of the connected world. There's a reason Facebook is developing technology to bring the rest of the unconnected world online. It's because they kn…

It is not hate and you may well be right about the scale and reach of facebook right now. However, I think many people over-estimate the real utility of Facebook. That is, lives would not materially change for the better or worse if facebook fell off the face of the internet tomorrow, imo. Emotional reactions aside, Gajendra from Nepal and Tom from California would continue with life as they did before Facebook was available.

The Yellow pages had a similar story not too long ago...

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#106
post #26

So, let me get this straight: they expect to able to be a viable advertising outlet for brands, despite having no demographic targeting besides a rough guess at geolocation? Hey, cool. Good thing you're paying Google and Amazon about $200 million a year while your user growth plateaus!

They can analyze which stories you look at and subscribe to, which branded lenses/stickers you use, and I'd be surprised if they weren't using facial recognition to analyze selfies to look for age/gender/etc data

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have snapchat on my phone, not because I use it... my daughter likes to make funny faces. She does NOT post. Am I counted as an active user?

Yes. They have your attention and they can do things to slowly nudge you to start engaging in deeper ways. For example your daughter grows up and is used to the "Snap-like" interaction already and will engage far more on Snapchat or similar products. Or maybe she one day finds the "Discover" section of the app and starts watching content on there. The fact that they have you and your daughter engaging with the produc…

Nope. This sounds very SV-ish and I don't mean that in a disrespectful way.

I am not a Snap user period. To count my daughter as a user is just plain sad from an investment point of view. She is not going to have a job for 9 years minimum. That means I control the purse strings.

Sanp is like those games that have a gajillion users and then simply die as no one plays them anymore.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#108
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5 Million / 50K (worse if you use 65K) = 100 Snaps per spectacle over a 90 day period = 1 Snap per spectacle per day. Thats super low engagement. For one its not going to alleviate any growth concerns. I see an Apple buyout looming.

Spectacles aren't really comparable to Google Glass, they're more like an action camera, such as a GoPro, but dumbed down and really easy to use. What counts as high user engagement for such a product? It's the sort of thing you only take out for events and special outings.

If they are supposed to function as action camera, then they are probably the lousiest ones ever designed/made. While I am sure the weather is always perfect at the Venice beach with enough sunlight. For nearly all other scenarios, where you might want a camera, you might NOT want to wear sunglasses. This is the reason why Google Glass had detachable attachment for sunglasses. The fact that they are tied to sunglasses, makes them useless in most other situations.

How are you going to wear sunglasses (unless of course you are on a beach) to any indoor or late night event/outing without looking like total douchebag??

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SNAP may already be a Camera Company, but you can never have too much Camera Company.

"Camera Company" built on the cameras of other companies.

Yup, the future is Camera Companies all the way down.

Re: Snap Inc. Reports First Quarter 2017 Results

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're severely underestimating the scale and reach of Facebook. There's a reason it's a ~450B company. It really does have that many users. Even if a solid 20% of them are all fake accounts (which I don't think the percentage is that high), it's still a large part of the connected world. There's a reason Facebook is developing technology to bring the rest of the unconnected world online. It's because they kn…

It is not hate and you may well be right about the scale and reach of facebook right now. However, I think many people over-estimate the real utility of Facebook. That is, lives would not materially change for the better or worse if facebook fell off the face of the internet tomorrow, imo. Emotional reactions aside, Gajendra from Nepal and Tom from California would continue with life as they did before Facebook was a…

I really do think that broad, sweeping statements like that can't be used so liberally for a product that billions of people use in so many different ways. The way we use Facebook here in America is not the same as the way people use Facebook in Thailand (in fact, it's extremely different). The way a college student uses Facebook is not the same as the way a mid 30s male uses Facebook.

I'll give you one data point. When I was in college, we had a Facebook group for every single class and they were extremely valuable. We also used Facebook events heavily for various on-campus events. This too was extremely valuable. Now that I'm out of college, I have less affinity with those products from Facebook but I gravitate towards different parts of the site now.

Either way, you can say that your life would not materially change for the better or worse if Facebook fell off the face of the internet tomorrow. That's a valid opinion to hold. But don't make the folly of generalizing a global product that is so incredibly pervasive in ways that we can't fully understand. I'm not saying that this reality is a good thing, nor am I saying it's a bad thing. However we can have better conversations about the effect Facebook has than "Facebook is useless", "Zuck is a spy", "I deleted my account, fuck FB", "All their metrics are fake", "Something something Myspace".

Those simply aren't interesting statements anymore. They just aren't. They're tired and have been repeated year after year for more than a decade.

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