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Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

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Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#151

Post by duaneb »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29
serg_chernata wrote: post #2

When a company like Uber is raising insane amounts of money I think to myself - "ok, they're working on vehicle automation and other ambitious projects, it makes sense". When a company like snapchat is looking for 4B in addition to existing funding I am left completely dumbfounded. Can someone please explain why they would need this much cash?

The engineering community is sleeping on Snapchat, but shouldn't be. My life is AR. I'm the CEO for an AR company, I speak write and live and breathe all things AR. Snapchat is poised to be the most important AR company around for several reasons. 1. They have a MASSIVE userbase that is comfortable with sharing their lives 2. That userbase has already shown an interest in AR - and yes whether you like it or not their…

Sounds like twitter: interesting, perhaps the future, but not a business worth investment. How can they succeed where twitter failed? The ads have ruined the app. Everyone I know who uses it agrees it performs terribly and is extremely difficult to avoid unwanted, irrelevant ads.

Again: it's twitter.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#152

Post by beambot »

untog wrote: post #137
beambot wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Famous last words. Reminds me of the old adage: "640k of memory is all that anybody with a computer would ever need." I already know a lot of younger folks that are pumped about the Snapchat glasses... (I'm not saying you're wrong... I just wouldn't make such steadfast predictions about the future either. But then again, I don't understand SnapChat and am not their target audience.)

You can trot out that 640k comment to sell any piece of technology, it doesn't make it true. I could have said the same about Google Glass.

Indeed you could. And sometimes you'd be right; other times you'd be dead wrong. If you could be right even half the time, you'd be rich as all get out. Which is why I would suggest: Don't make overreaching bold predictions (or become an investor).

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#153

Post by beambot »

dir wrote: post #138
beambot wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Famous last words. Reminds me of the old adage: "640k of memory is all that anybody with a computer would ever need." I already know a lot of younger folks that are pumped about the Snapchat glasses... (I'm not saying you're wrong... I just wouldn't make such steadfast predictions about the future either. But then again, I don't understand SnapChat and am not their target audience.)

The problem with the Snapchat glasses is their re usability and if it catches on. If your friends aren't using them and you're the only one with a pair you'd be less inclined to wear them. Everyone thought Google Glass was going to be the future but those glasses made you look like a total douche. Hopefully the Spectacles wont be branded as such.

I would posit: your perception of "total douche-ness" (your words, not mine) are largely driven by marketing and/or culture.

Glass definitely failed in the marketing, branding, and roll-out departments (among others) -- but they're no more or less doofy (to me) than many other perfectly-accepted fashions: baggy pants, beats headphones, crocs, etc.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#154

Post by cyan_atrus »

ethanbond wrote: post #100
giarc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you used snapchat? Swipe left from the main screen and I'm shown 4-5 advertisements right away. User engagement + advertisements = bills paid.

Users' appetite for more ads will, in 100% of cases, diminish before shareholder appetite does.

spoken like someone who hasn't used the product. snapchat's ads fit the format amazingly well, and now that snapchat is also paying for content directly everyone's incentives are aligned to make a deeply engaging product that monetizes well without alienating users.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#155

Post by matchagaucho »

serg_chernata wrote: post #2

When a company like Uber is raising insane amounts of money I think to myself - "ok, they're working on vehicle automation and other ambitious projects, it makes sense". When a company like snapchat is looking for 4B in addition to existing funding I am left completely dumbfounded. Can someone please explain why they would need this much cash?

The number of IPO shares floated and underwriter fees have more influence on the amount raised. It's not entirely driven by need.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#156

Post by taytus »

philfrasty wrote: post #107
taytus wrote: post #31

I'm a professional photographer and even when I had a medium audience on Snapchat (1000-3000 views/snap), I switched to Instagram stories. For content creators Snapchat is not good at all. The discoverability problem they have is a serious issue for me.

How do your Insta stories compare in terms of views and view-through-rate? (I am in the same situation as a content creator on YouTube using Insta/Snap on the side)

Not a lot of people use it yet. I have about 16k followers on IG and an average of 500 views/story. I feel that once IG (if ever) start adding more filters, people will use it more heavily.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#157

Post by maruhan2 »

duaneb wrote: post #151
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The engineering community is sleeping on Snapchat, but shouldn't be. My life is AR. I'm the CEO for an AR company, I speak write and live and breathe all things AR. Snapchat is poised to be the most important AR company around for several reasons. 1. They have a MASSIVE userbase that is comfortable with sharing their lives 2. That userbase has already shown an interest in AR - and yes whether you like it or not their…

Sounds like twitter: interesting, perhaps the future, but not a business worth investment. How can they succeed where twitter failed? The ads have ruined the app. Everyone I know who uses it agrees it performs terribly and is extremely difficult to avoid unwanted, irrelevant ads. Again: it's twitter.

It's a better case than twitter though. There is no obvious way of monetizing twitter, while there are many ways that I can think of that snapchat can monetized. For example, Line and Kakao have massively succeeded with their sticker/character business, and snapchat could bring something similar. There are many other ways I can list. So, the issue is not "What are possible methods of monetization?" but "How do I optimize profit?" This is definitely a more favorable setting than twitter.

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#158

Post by taf2 »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #29
serg_chernata wrote: post #2

When a company like Uber is raising insane amounts of money I think to myself - "ok, they're working on vehicle automation and other ambitious projects, it makes sense". When a company like snapchat is looking for 4B in addition to existing funding I am left completely dumbfounded. Can someone please explain why they would need this much cash?

The engineering community is sleeping on Snapchat, but shouldn't be. My life is AR. I'm the CEO for an AR company, I speak write and live and breathe all things AR. Snapchat is poised to be the most important AR company around for several reasons. 1. They have a MASSIVE userbase that is comfortable with sharing their lives 2. That userbase has already shown an interest in AR - and yes whether you like it or not their…

Sorry... I tried googling this but what is AR?

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#159

Post by [deleted] »

maruhan2 wrote: post #157
duaneb wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like twitter: interesting, perhaps the future, but not a business worth investment. How can they succeed where twitter failed? The ads have ruined the app. Everyone I know who uses it agrees it performs terribly and is extremely difficult to avoid unwanted, irrelevant ads. Again: it's twitter.

It's a better case than twitter though. There is no obvious way of monetizing twitter, while there are many ways that I can think of that snapchat can monetized. For example, Line and Kakao have massively succeeded with their sticker/character business, and snapchat could bring something similar. There are many other ways I can list. So, the issue is not "What are possible methods of monetization?" but "How do I opti…

[deleted]

Re: Snapchat Seeks to Raise as Much as $4B in IPO

#160

Post by reneherse »

mahyarm wrote: post #46
boomzilla wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how will they make money? Selling ads in the AR world?

https://www.spectacles.com/

My intuition is that these will be a hit. Simple, fun, youthful & on trend, not fussy to charge, huge captive userbase to sell to. Can you turn them around and use the mirrored lenses to take a selfie?

Snap probably has a winner here if their users will further embrace the idea of turning cameras away from their faces and onto their friends and experiences. How big an "if" that is, I can't yet say.

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