Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
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Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#2tldr: they're rumored to have selected investor/s for a rumored amount at a rumored valuation.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#3Sigh, another article that celebrates funding as some type of success. It isn't. What matters is what they do with that money.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#4Sigh, another article that celebrates funding as some type of success. It isn't. What matters is what they do with that money.
What in the article celebrates funding as success?
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#5Sigh, another article that celebrates funding as some type of success. It isn't. What matters is what they do with that money.
The article isn't celebrating success. But perhaps it should be.
Building a great company where the success you have achieved thus far is recognized in the form of a favorable valuation which increases shareholder value (which includes all the hardworking employees) and adds capital to the enterprise is certainly a positive milestone worth recognizing.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#6I'm somewhat surprised that a file sharing company can get a valuation this large. Don't get me wrong, the product is great, but I'm skeptical that the "file sharing industry" is big enough for valuations like this. Some quick math:
A 5 billion valuation implies earnings of at least 250 million/year. Assuming paying customers are worth 240/year and represent 5% of the user base, dropbox would need roughly 21 million users. Maybe 5% is high; if 4% is better then the number jumps to 26 million, etc...
There may be billions of people on earth, but how many are sophisticated enough to really need file sharing? Also, there are other players such as box that will claim some of those users.
Dropbox is awesome, but I can't understand the numbers on this one.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#7I'm sure hundreds of second and third tier VCs piled on with ridiculous valuations in the hopes that they could add a "hot" company to their website. If this article is correct, Dropbox did the right thing and decided to go with smarter money.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#8Sigh, another article that celebrates funding as some type of success. It isn't. What matters is what they do with that money.
What in the article celebrates funding as success?
I admit, my post was an overreaction. My concern, and the reason I've stopped reading TC, was that we're in a culture that celebrates VC funding as some sort of business success. It's a milestone, but it's not success (in my eyes, anyway). Real success, which Dropbox certainly has reached, is when you build a sustainable company where your customers pay you for providing value, not investors. Investors eventually want their money back.
That said, my comments were definitely not targeted at Dropbox and I applaud that team for building a great product and providing great value.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#9I'm somewhat surprised that a file sharing company can get a valuation this large. Don't get me wrong, the product is great, but I'm skeptical that the "file sharing industry" is big enough for valuations like this. Some quick math: A 5 billion valuation implies earnings of at least 250 million/year. Assuming paying customers are worth 240/year and represent 5% of the user base, dropbox would need roughly 21 million…
21 million seems pretty easy to achieve to me worldwide; every one of my social circles and peer groups, both technical and non-technical, in the US and South America, seem to use dropbox. my parents love it. my wife is non-technical to a fault and can't live without it; she just paid for the upgrade to 100gb because it represents safetey to her of her photos. even my under 10 year old son knows that saving in dropbox means he won't lose his homework assignment.
i think they have a huge, huge opportunity.
Re: Dropbox Chooses Investor Group, Valuation Set at $5+ Billion
#10I'm somewhat surprised that a file sharing company can get a valuation this large. Don't get me wrong, the product is great, but I'm skeptical that the "file sharing industry" is big enough for valuations like this. Some quick math: A 5 billion valuation implies earnings of at least 250 million/year. Assuming paying customers are worth 240/year and represent 5% of the user base, dropbox would need roughly 21 million…
Well, they don't just have the $240/yr plan. And file sharing isn't quite as sophisticated as you might think - it passes the grandparents test.
I wish Dropbox would have a smaller priced tier (like $5/mo). The free plan is more than ample for my needs, but I like to pay for premium service from companies I use to support them. But $10/mo is a bit steep in comparison to, say, the value I get out of Netflix streaming for $10/mo.