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Every single person here seems negative about Snapchat. I am 30+, use it occasionally, and see more and more of my older friends signing up. Especially those f

Every single person here seems negative about Snapchat. I am 30+, use it occasionally, and see more and more of my older friends signing up. Especially those friends far away from the echo chamber. This fundraising feels smart for investors who want a great return and for the company to use to get to an IPO. If you don't use Snapchat, or haven't used it in a few years, it is probably time you take a second look.

sotojuan 10y ago
People on tech forums are typically negative about social media apps and platforms. It's pretty interesting.
- jakebellacera 10y ago
  Which is ironic, because tech forums, reddit, HN, etc are "social" sites as well.
  - OJFord 10y ago
    It's hard to define 'content' in a way that doesn't make HN and tech forums sound more valuable than 'pure social' platforms, though.
- kirykl 10y ago
  [Many respectable technologists said that they weren't going to stand for this -- partly because it was a debasement of technology, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of funding series]
- gjolund 10y ago
  I can only speak for myself here. I have no problem with snapchat the app. I think it is dumb, and don't enjoy using it, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist. What I do have a problem with is Snapchat being put on a pedestal, and perpetuating the SV cash grab business model. Get a bunch of users with a trendy app, data mine the shit out of them, and serve them ads until the app folds. There is no lasting value, and it is just the kind of rampant speculation that collapsed our industry in the past.
  - jamiequint 10y ago
    Yeah, that cash grab model sure didn't work out for Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, etc. Good thing those finally failed due to the complete lack of value being provided and their associated pesky ad-based business models /s.
    - gjolund 10y ago
      I noticed you left Twitter out, which is odd because it is the app that most closely resembles snapchat. FB acquired Instagram for its user base. Amazon acquired Twitch for its user base. Google acquired Youtube for its user base. How many snapchat users do you think also use those apps? How much additional value is being extracted from them via snapchat?
      - jamiequint 10y ago
        Your question isn't clear. Attention is value, why does it matter what other apps they also use?
  - rankam 10y ago
    > data mine the shit out of them That's one of the reasons they are so valuable - data. Data is so valuable to companies - it gives them insight into how consumers behave. Gett Taxi just raised $300M from Volkswagen and it's not because of their tech. It's because they have data on how urban residents move and travel. Google released TensorFlow and gave everyone access to easy to use and super advanced neural nets and they do this because it's not actually their algorithms that give them their competitive edge - it's their data. More data beats a clever algorithm every time.
  - robwilliams 10y ago
    You've made a negative comment in nearly every thread on this post - do you really hate Snapchat that much? Do you not see how some people might enjoy using it?
GVIrish 10y ago
I think people are negative about the profit potential of Snapchat ever coming close to justifying the multi-billion dollar valuations. As a fun and sticky social media service I think most can recognize Snapchat is killing it, but as a business it seems sketchy. I think Snapchat can be profitable at some point but it would have to be a blockbuster in terms of revenue/profit to justify an 11-digit valuation.
- gjolund 10y ago
  Bingo. The numbers just don't add up. You would think people would be a little more skeptical after watching the twitter downward spiral.
api 10y ago
I am both positive and negative on it. It's useful and fun to a large number of people and definitely has some non-trivial value. Does it have enough value to justify this kind of money being plowed into it? That's where I'm not convinced. These are big numbers and for them to ever make a return the revenue growth would have to be really really huge. I can't see Snapchat becoming Google or Facebook since its interaction profile is too narrow and brief. We're basically talking about an ad-engagement and profiling medium here. Google has huge value as an ad platform because they serve ads at the time of maximum intent -- their ads are targeted to what you are looking for right now and so they're more likely to convert than ads served at random times. Facebook has huge value as an ad platform because they have so much data to target ads accurately and gather metrics about who engages with them. Many people use Facebook ads not as primary ads to drive conversion but as 'probes' to develop customer profiles, so it's almost like a focus group as a service. What monstrous value is Snapchat going to provide in this space that will generate returns higher than the S&P 500 on many billions in investment over the next, say, 10 years?
deleted 10y ago
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sotojuan 10y ago

People on tech forums are typically negative about social media apps and platforms. It's pretty interesting.

jakebellacera 10y ago
Which is ironic, because tech forums, reddit, HN, etc are "social" sites as well.
- OJFord 10y ago
  It's hard to define 'content' in a way that doesn't make HN and tech forums sound more valuable than 'pure social' platforms, though.
kirykl 10y ago
[Many respectable technologists said that they weren't going to stand for this -- partly because it was a debasement of technology, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of funding series]
gjolund 10y ago
I can only speak for myself here. I have no problem with snapchat the app. I think it is dumb, and don't enjoy using it, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist. What I do have a problem with is Snapchat being put on a pedestal, and perpetuating the SV cash grab business model. Get a bunch of users with a trendy app, data mine the shit out of them, and serve them ads until the app folds. There is no lasting value, and it is just the kind of rampant speculation that collapsed our industry in the past.
- jamiequint 10y ago
  Yeah, that cash grab model sure didn't work out for Facebook, Twitch, YouTube, Instagram, etc. Good thing those finally failed due to the complete lack of value being provided and their associated pesky ad-based business models /s.
  - gjolund 10y ago
    I noticed you left Twitter out, which is odd because it is the app that most closely resembles snapchat. FB acquired Instagram for its user base. Amazon acquired Twitch for its user base. Google acquired Youtube for its user base. How many snapchat users do you think also use those apps? How much additional value is being extracted from them via snapchat?
    - jamiequint 10y ago
      Your question isn't clear. Attention is value, why does it matter what other apps they also use?
- rankam 10y ago
  > data mine the shit out of them That's one of the reasons they are so valuable - data. Data is so valuable to companies - it gives them insight into how consumers behave. Gett Taxi just raised $300M from Volkswagen and it's not because of their tech. It's because they have data on how urban residents move and travel. Google released TensorFlow and gave everyone access to easy to use and super advanced neural nets and they do this because it's not actually their algorithms that give them their competitive edge - it's their data. More data beats a clever algorithm every time.
- robwilliams 10y ago
  You've made a negative comment in nearly every thread on this post - do you really hate Snapchat that much? Do you not see how some people might enjoy using it?

GVIrish 10y ago

I think people are negative about the profit potential of Snapchat ever coming close to justifying the multi-billion dollar valuations. As a fun and sticky social media service I think most can recognize Snapchat is killing it, but as a business it seems sketchy. I think Snapchat can be profitable at some point but it would have to be a blockbuster in terms of revenue/profit to justify an 11-digit valuation.

gjolund 10y ago
Bingo. The numbers just don't add up. You would think people would be a little more skeptical after watching the twitter downward spiral.

api 10y ago

I am both positive and negative on it. It's useful and fun to a large number of people and definitely has some non-trivial value. Does it have enough value to justify this kind of money being plowed into it? That's where I'm not convinced. These are big numbers and for them to ever make a return the revenue growth would have to be really really huge. I can't see Snapchat becoming Google or Facebook since its interaction profile is too narrow and brief. We're basically talking about an ad-engagement and profiling medium here. Google has huge value as an ad platform because they serve ads at the time of maximum intent -- their ads are targeted to what you are looking for right now and so they're more likely to convert than ads served at random times. Facebook has huge value as an ad platform because they have so much data to target ads accurately and gather metrics about who engages with them. Many people use Facebook ads not as primary ads to drive conversion but as 'probes' to develop customer profiles, so it's almost like a focus group as a service. What monstrous value is Snapchat going to provide in this space that will generate returns higher than the S&P 500 on many billions in investment over the next, say, 10 years?

deleted 10y ago

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