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Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
61–70 of 267 posts
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#62Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#63I'm bearish on Discord. Unlike Slack, it targets a price-averse demographic and is attempting to enter spaces that are very saturated (Steam, Origin, Epic, Ubisoft are already crushing the digital distribution medium), so then it's basically an IRC replacement for gamers. I understand Slack's valuation as it targets huge companies with up to decades-long contracts and has projected revenues > $1B for this year, but I…
There is a much, much easier explanation for the obscene valuation:
> The round was led by Greenoaks Capital with participation from Firstmark, ___Tencent___, IVP, Index Ventures and Technology Opportunity Partners.
All and every big Chinese company seeks to exfiltrate cash out of the country no mater what the justification is.
That way you have China Rail buying Canadian casinos, tech companies buying American pig farms, and a farming cooperative buying Dutch semiconductor fab equipment maker.
I will not be surprised that Tencent will dump them upon first opportunity. I am almost certain that all other players on board the deal are there just to provide the justification and legal cover for otherwise nonsensical deal.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#64I'm bearish on Discord. Unlike Slack, it targets a price-averse demographic and is attempting to enter spaces that are very saturated (Steam, Origin, Epic, Ubisoft are already crushing the digital distribution medium), so then it's basically an IRC replacement for gamers. I understand Slack's valuation as it targets huge companies with up to decades-long contracts and has projected revenues > $1B for this year, but I…
I'd be more bearish on the stores of Origin, Epic, Ubisoft. Building a user base has to be done bottom up. Companies in general cannot do that because their approach is a forced top down one, pushed by marketing and sales.
I think it's fair to believe that Discord can be one of two stores together with Steam. Other publishers are likely to fail.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Completely agree. Skype was the gamer go-to for a while, in fact.
as a gamer I have to ask "when was that?"
My high school friends and I used it up until we switch to Discord last year (so ~2013-2017). We all had Mumble and TeamSpeak installed for when we needed it, but all through high school we had a Skype group chat that we always used. It was a admittedly a bit of a hog, but it was free, looked nicer, and had a few more useful features then Mumble or Teamspeak.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#66Discord isn't just for gamers. Though that's where it started, its robust community management features have made it's a go-to for online creators looking to engage with their audiences.
It's especially prominent among Youtubers, and is increasingly becoming seen in some circles as a safer alternative to public forums like Reddit for topical discourse. This is, in my opinion because there's no formal discoverability mechanism, and the invite feature lets server admins make their communities as inclusive, or exclusive as they want them to be.
Discord has a lot of appeal outside of its target audience, and its growth in other areas is largely automatic since a lot of subcultures online exist in parallel or close proximity to hardcore gaming demographics.
That's where I see its future being the brightest, so long as the service doesn't get too cluttered with unnecessary 'community' features.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#67I'm bearish on Discord. Unlike Slack, it targets a price-averse demographic and is attempting to enter spaces that are very saturated (Steam, Origin, Epic, Ubisoft are already crushing the digital distribution medium), so then it's basically an IRC replacement for gamers. I understand Slack's valuation as it targets huge companies with up to decades-long contracts and has projected revenues > $1B for this year, but I…
As an alternate view, what's to stop Discord from adding integrations down the road and competing head on head with Slack?
It strikes me that it is easier for Discord to move into Slack's space than vice versa.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
as a gamer I have to ask "when was that?"
When I played CS:Source in a clan, we had Teamspeak that we rented a server for. When I played WoW and Guild Wars with a small group of friends, we used Skype because it was free. Early-to-mid 2000s.
I must be a mammoth, as I still use Skype for gaming. What does Discord offer, that Skype doesn't, and Steam is running anyway too?
Lately Skype became too buggy to use as IM, but sound is still solid.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#69I'm bearish on Discord. Unlike Slack, it targets a price-averse demographic and is attempting to enter spaces that are very saturated (Steam, Origin, Epic, Ubisoft are already crushing the digital distribution medium), so then it's basically an IRC replacement for gamers. I understand Slack's valuation as it targets huge companies with up to decades-long contracts and has projected revenues > $1B for this year, but I…
I'd be more bearish on the stores of Origin, Epic, Ubisoft. Building a user base has to be done bottom up. Companies in general cannot do that because their approach is a forced top down one, pushed by marketing and sales. I think it's fair to believe that Discord can be one of two stores together with Steam. Other publishers are likely to fail.
> Building a user base has to be done bottom up.
Stores have nothing to do with "user bases." You just want people to buy stuff. As a publisher, you have all the leverage when it comes to pricing arbitrage. You can sell game X on your platform for $45 and sell the same license to Discord for $50. The consumer doesn't care where they buy it from, as long as it's cheaper. Obviously, they're incentivized to buy it on your platform.
I'm not saying that platform size doesn't matter, but funneling resources for a win there would be a Pyrrhic victory. Steam won that battle a long time ago.
Re: Discord raises $150M, surpassing $2B valuation
#70I just managed to get trought the techcrunch ad choice page and tell them my choices: took about an hour.
I think someone could make a performance art piece about scrolling throught the ebay ad choices: that was a quiet half an hour spent contemplating the online ad industry.