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Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

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251–260 of 369 posts

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#251

This $27.8 billion dollar valuation tells me that somewhere along the line, my job and lifestyle have caused me to detach from a significant chunk of society. I've never used Snap or their platform. I don't even really know what the benefit of their service. I am curious if I'm in the minority or if there's lots of developers like me who aren't able to comprehend these valuations.

I can't tell you how much this blows my mind. So no, you're not alone. I consider myself a pretty normal person, one that can have an open mind and get along with people. I can't for the life of me figure out why snapchat is so popular. I also can't figure out how to use the app or what it's use case is over Instagram (an app I use heavily). I'm 27 by the way.

It's funny, because I find the app thoroughly confusing to use and understand. I initially blamed myself for being dumb or not giving it enough of a chance, but when I asked a few of my friends who do use it, they kind of just shrug their shoulders and can't really explain how it works either.

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

High tech has become more marketing and less tech.

Considering the state of the snapchat app on android, I absolutely agree.

Can you elaborate on the state? (I never used SnapChat, but I am on Android.)

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#254
post #244

Santa Monica and Venice are going to get even more expensive in 6 months.

are they tho ?

Brand new 2.65M condo units next door to me in Santa Monica. One immediately sold and I expect the rest to go as soon as all these paper millionaires in the neighborhood turn real.

Venice has already turned into the most expensive rental market in LA [0] and it is dragging Santa Monica's prices up with it. I'm in a rent controlled apartment and I don't think I will move out of it at this rate unless I leave California entirely.

0 - http://www.laweekly.com/news/how-venice-became-the-most-expe...

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "economy" is much, much larger than a few social networking apps.

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. Don't forget Google makes its money from advertising. And as more people grow up expecting to have everything for free, more people will bawk at paying for ownership of anything. It's why so many people will sustain countless invasive advertisements to play a mobile game over weeks/months/years instead of just paying a 1 time fee of a few dollars. Advertising has transfor…

> And as more people grow up expecting to have everything for free

I’m convinced this is more of a service problem than an inherent generational problem. At the moment many of the best-in-breed applications are ad supported because their whole raison d’être revolves around network effects and making people pay in or subscribe cuts against that.

As time goes on, though, places where a subscription based business model can fit will start to catch on as the underlying technologies mature to the point where you can get any old dude out of college to run them rather than needing top-quartile development talent. This is especially true as you become able to position applications or services as ‘premium’ products.

It’s easy to make people uptake new things with freeware business models. But as the products and services get more buy-in you’ll find more scope for other business models to thrive. For example, there is a cottage industry of subscription based matchmaking services that offer a more personal touch than typical online dating.

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the same reason 50% of the US didn't vote in the last election. Or employees don't demand to view board decks. Most investors are buying as a way to make money off of continued success. They don't want to control the business or make decisions, and even if they did, they don't want to invest enough to make a dent in the normal 1-share-1-vote sort of model. They're looking the company and hooking their accounts to…

I think you have an interesting point but I disagree with your analogy of a presidential election. The motivations for voting in a presidential election are not always financial (even though future policies could very well determine your own financial outlook..). I think you're right about investors are in it for the returns but having control can help steer your returns. If everybody thinks the CEO is not increasing…

I guess my point was more that at some scale, it feels worthless to vote at all. If I disagree with Snap's CEO, my $500 of stock feels about like my vote in the presidential election. I doubt my input changes the course of anything.

There's a good reason to exert control in both cases, but for many, it feels futile to do so.

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#257
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So now we know that there is atleast some appetite for shares with no controlling interest and no indication of paying out a dividend any time soon. A current market cap of 30 Billion is a pretty darn big accomplishment! This is really disturbing. I don't know if its an indicator of too much money in the market, or just the fact that the market itself has expanded so much. Why would investors be OK with losing powe…

It could be an indicator that a lot of people invest without regard for foundational questions like "does this valuation make sense" or "does my ownership interest grant me any control of the company?" And I'll be the first to raise my hand on that front. On the face of it, I'm not really interested in owning a stock like this. But I've stopped picking stocks entirely, now I just invest in the stock market through in…

Is Snap big enough that indexes tracking the S&P 500 would buy up Snap?

If not, what index funds would?

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#258

Economics novice here. How did we get such a huge difference (40%!) between the IPO price and the current price, when both sides had $3.4 billion at stake on getting that price "right"? Is there some huge information disparity here? Moreover, if investors feel that $24 a share is a fair price, why weren't they swooping in before the IPO and, say, offering $20 a share for the whole chunk? Sorry if this seems like a ri…

From what I understand, IPOs are very complex, but an ELI5 goes something like this: They want to open the stock to the public without crazy volatility in price, so there is a "pre-IPO" where brokers get access to buy it at $17, then $18, etc. and when people stop grabbing - they open it to the public. I think the underwriter basically buys all the stock for $17/share and then they broker it out to everyone, so anyon…

AFAIK the underwriters typically don't buy and sell the stock themselves - but offer it to their clients, who can buy the shares at the IPO price instead of the opening price. The underwriters then charge a fee based on the size of the IPO.

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#259

My favorite tweet about the whole situation: https://twitter.com/objective_neo/status/736530568222015489

That was my sentiment five years ago for Instagram. 9 Apr 2012 2008:Sun buys MySQL for $1B. 2012:Facebook buys Instagram for $1B. DB tech running half the web+revenue vs hipster photo filter app+no rev.

I saw pretty easily how Instagram could be worth a billion to FB, who has a social network and wants to expand their user base / stop competition from rising.

I don't understand how these shares that pay no dividend and give no voting power are worth $24 each. They are basically "SnapChat Fun Bucks." Anyone buying it just hoping another person down the line will pay more for it. On top of that, we know there's a large number of people holding it (employees) that are going to start selling their shares over the next year.

I just don't get how this has any value at all.

Re: Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might not be the best comparison... GoPro is fighting for life and if it's not acquired by Snap it may not be long for this world.

The company might not be doing well but their product is solid. If they don't figure it out, GoPro is going to be acquired by someone, that's for certain.

Perhaps, but their "solid product" isn't selling well which makes it seem less solid. Everyone already has a very high quality camera with them all the time and almost no one does extreme sports that would benefit from a more sturdy camera. I have one and don't even know where it is, it's useless.
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