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With enough ads, it does. (And you can also try and leverage it to get VCs to pay your bills.)
With enough ads user engagement also goes down. If Snapchat pushes it too far it will drive users off the platform and onto the next "cool" thing.
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?
Uber does not need the amount of money it raises because of vehicle automation. That's a relatively tiny portion of their spend.
That being said, the only defense it seems Snapchat has is their "instantaneously direct messaging" i.e. being able to send to one person at a time. When or if IG does this, well...
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They have captured an important segment of the market (12-2x years olds). I also think that people In this age group find it a ton more engaging than the alternatives.
Sure, but what precisely are they planning to spend $4B on?
I have yet to speak with anyone who thinks Snapchat's valuation is realistic and that their business model will sustain them. When I see this I just think of Twitter all over again. I would love to hear arguments supporting Snapchat though.
That being said, I think Snapchat's current valuation is wildly overblown and that they are trying to cash out on an IPO before advertisers realize that the ROI isn't there. Snapchat already has some of the highest CPMs in the market, and their sponsored content is incredibly expensive. I think advertisers wanted to experiment with the platform, but I think the jury's still out if it's worth it. Regardless, if Snapchat can lock in a few high priced deals they can gain some momentum into an IPO, but once they go public, there's going to be much more scrutiny in their metrics. I suspect blowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to woo the fickle, ad-adverse millennial with a filter will ultimately prove ineffective.
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Uber does not need the amount of money it raises because of vehicle automation. That's a relatively tiny portion of their spend.
Where is the bulk of their spend? Hiring? Lobbying local jurisdictions?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Uber does not need the amount of money it raises because of vehicle automation. That's a relatively tiny portion of their spend.
Where is the bulk of their spend? Hiring? Lobbying local jurisdictions?
Honestly, the China gamble Uber had earlier this year shows me that they're spreading themselves too thin.
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?
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 filters are on the AR spectrum - the filters system maps, tracks (SLAM) and modifies in real time.
Their Spectacles release has the potential to build the largest real world image dataset on the planet - something needed (for reasons I won't go into) for AR everywhere. Think on the order of 1.8 Billion images per month with depth data from the stereo cameras (30FPS * 10 sec snap * estimated 20 snaps per day * estimate 100k spectacles users in first month).
Most people have no clue what is going on in the AR world, and I can tell you Snapchat is going to be formidable. If they can invest in a VRD, then they could win the whole AR market, but they need to raise more than 4BN to do that probably.
Man, I just wanted to send dick pics...