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SAP to acquire Qualtrics

news.sap.com

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Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#21

Post by whoisjuan »

twtw wrote: post #13

I found this excerpt from their S-1 interesting: > We use open source software in our platform that may subject our platform to general release or require us to re-engineer our platform, which may harm our business. > We use open source software in our XM™ Platform and expect to continue to use open source software in our platform in the future. There are uncertainties regarding the proper interpretation of and compl…

From all the S-1s I have read, this seems like a typical disclaimer. More than anything is a guidance on the use of OSS and the risk that comes from using non-propietary technology (which includes releasing software written on top of the questioned technology). The way I see it, it's more of an indication on potential future litigation (e.g: Google vs Oracle), not so much of the cost of re-writing software, although I'm sure this is included because it seems like the reasonable thing to do if you're using software with a license that is potentially harmful to your business' economic interests.

This is why companies care about OSS licenses and sudden changes in those licenses. It's not out of pettiness. Automattic dropped React just for this very reason.

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#23

Post by paxys »

devmunchies wrote: post #2

This is very surprising. They were prepping to go public for a couple years, even stacking their c-suite with ex-microsoft executives. (I left Qualtrics a year ago.)

They were planning to go public in weeks, not years. Looks like the founders/board opted for a guaranteed payday (2-3x share price premium) over stock market uncertainty, but it still seems like an odd decision.

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#24

Post by sbr464 »

twtw wrote: post #13

I found this excerpt from their S-1 interesting: > We use open source software in our platform that may subject our platform to general release or require us to re-engineer our platform, which may harm our business. > We use open source software in our XM™ Platform and expect to continue to use open source software in our platform in the future. There are uncertainties regarding the proper interpretation of and compl…

It seems to be boilerplate now, included in the __template__s1.docx legal Dropbox, judging from the same appearing in recent years.

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#27

Post by sah2ed »

whoisjuan wrote: post #21
twtw wrote: post #13

I found this excerpt from their S-1 interesting: > We use open source software in our platform that may subject our platform to general release or require us to re-engineer our platform, which may harm our business. > We use open source software in our XM™ Platform and expect to continue to use open source software in our platform in the future. There are uncertainties regarding the proper interpretation of and compl…

From all the S-1s I have read, this seems like a typical disclaimer. More than anything is a guidance on the use of OSS and the risk that comes from using non-propietary technology (which includes releasing software written on top of the questioned technology). The way I see it, it's more of an indication on potential future litigation (e.g: Google vs Oracle), not so much of the cost of re-writing software, although…

> This is why companies care about OSS licenses and sudden changes in those licenses. It's not out of pettiness. Automattic dropped React just for this very reason.

I believe the blog post [0] by the Automattic CEO where he announced plans to drop React played a significant role in causing Facebook to re-evaluate [1] the React license terms, considering that at that time, WordPress powered more than 25% of all websites.

[0]: https://ma.tt/2017/09/on-react-and-wordpress/

[1]: https://code.fb.com/web/relicensing-react-jest-flow-and-immu...

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#28

Post by adventured »

paxys wrote: post #23
devmunchies wrote: post #2

This is very surprising. They were prepping to go public for a couple years, even stacking their c-suite with ex-microsoft executives. (I left Qualtrics a year ago.)

They were planning to go public in weeks, not years. Looks like the founders/board opted for a guaranteed payday (2-3x share price premium) over stock market uncertainty, but it still seems like an odd decision.

$7 billion cash-out for the family that controls Qualtrics, perhaps an irresistible opportunity.

It's 30x $266m in profit. They might need to get to $3b or $4b in sales to reach that kind of annual profit generation, if they spend like most SaaS companies do to pursue growth. They might have seen blips over the next five or six years where their valuation ran higher than $8b without the fundamentals to support it (assuming everything went according to plan in the business), however, averaged over time I find it hard to believe they could support an $8b market cap without a dramatic size increase. This party market won't last forever. Excellent sale by the owners (all cash at that, avoiding the downside risk in SAP's stock at 32x earnings; in any other market SAP gets a 20 PE or lower).

I also suspect that as a public company, assuming the time it takes to scale to justify an $8b-$10b style market cap (five or six years at least, likely more), and the dilution they'd suffer as a family when it comes to employee stock compensation over time, they might need something more like a $12b+ stable future outcome to match where they're already at with SAP. Introduce business risk, economic risk, stock market risk, and a lot of years to get from here to there - the $7b would seem to make great sense for the Smith family. The best reason to not take this deal, is to keep control of the company - as it is, the Smiths get to keep running it anyway post acquisition and don't have to deal with public shareholders et al.

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#29

Post by erikb »

devmunchies wrote: post #2

This is very surprising. They were prepping to go public for a couple years, even stacking their c-suite with ex-microsoft executives. (I left Qualtrics a year ago.)

Today is the first day I hear about this company. What are they doing? Do they have noteworthy customers?

Re: SAP to acquire Qualtrics

#30

Post by sbr464 »

whoisjuan wrote: post #21
twtw wrote: post #13

I found this excerpt from their S-1 interesting: > We use open source software in our platform that may subject our platform to general release or require us to re-engineer our platform, which may harm our business. > We use open source software in our XM™ Platform and expect to continue to use open source software in our platform in the future. There are uncertainties regarding the proper interpretation of and compl…

From all the S-1s I have read, this seems like a typical disclaimer. More than anything is a guidance on the use of OSS and the risk that comes from using non-propietary technology (which includes releasing software written on top of the questioned technology). The way I see it, it's more of an indication on potential future litigation (e.g: Google vs Oracle), not so much of the cost of re-writing software, although…

Sorry, but your info is a bit out of date. The latest Wordpress Gutenberg uses React.
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