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If you read the article, Dropbox is bringing in a billion a year and is almost profitable.

by sfeng 10y ago

asimpleguy 10y ago
Almost profitable is not profitable.
- seanieb 10y ago
  They just built out their own data centers to transfer off AWS. I'm guessing that long term bet cost a few $$$
- rrdharan 10y ago
  They're free cash-flow positive. Consider that Amazon is also mostly not profitable but has staggering amounts of positive free cash flow.
  - mbesto 10y ago
    > They're free cash-flow positive. Do you know that for a fact?
    - rrdharan 10y ago
      Dropbox's CEO declared it as a fact last year and it has been widely reported: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/dropbox-ceo-pushes-toward-profitability-in-a-post-unicorn-era https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/dropbox-c... https://www.wsj.com/articles/dropbox-ceo-were-cash-flow-positive-1465938538 https://www.wsj.com/articles/dropbox-ceo-were-cash-flow-posi... https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-flow-positive-in-no-rush-to-ipo/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-fl... But I have not personally inspected their financial statements and conducted an audit to confirm this with my own two eyes, if that's what you're asking.
meritt 10y ago
It's bewildering to me how a company can have $1B in revenue and not able to make file-syncing profitable.
- brianwawok 10y ago
  I assume their two biggest expenses are employees and the free product. Drop employees and they are insta profitable, but innovation slows. Drop the free plan, and they lose the cheap marketing they have going on. What is the right play for them? Seems tough.
  - pestaa 10y ago
    > Drop the free plan, and they lose the cheap marketing they have going on. Is it cheap though when combined with wages it's more than they make?
- pm90 10y ago
  Why? Amazon made billions in revenue for years and only recently became profitable.
  - meritt 10y ago
    And that was purely a tax-avoidance strategy. Top employees have always been compensated via stock instead of any form of profit sharing. Now that Amazon literally can't spend their money quickly enough, they're doing stock buybacks for the exact same reason: it's a technique to distribute dividends without causing a taxable event. We'll see when Dropbox files whether or not they are executing the same strategy. My guess is they are, since it's hard for me to believe you can't attain profitability on $1B in revenue for a file-syncing platform.
  - bigtimeidiot 10y ago
    >"Why? Amazon made billions in revenue for years and only recently became profitable." Do you think the complexity of Amazon and Dropbox are even in the same universe? Disclaimer: I like both companies.

If you read the article, Dropbox is bringing in a billion a year and is almost profitable.

by sfeng 10y ago

If you read the article, Dropbox is bringing in a billion a year and is almost profitable.

asimpleguy 10y ago

Almost profitable is not profitable.

seanieb 10y ago
They just built out their own data centers to transfer off AWS. I'm guessing that long term bet cost a few $$$
rrdharan 10y ago
They're free cash-flow positive. Consider that Amazon is also mostly not profitable but has staggering amounts of positive free cash flow.
- mbesto 10y ago
  > They're free cash-flow positive. Do you know that for a fact?
  - rrdharan 10y ago
    Dropbox's CEO declared it as a fact last year and it has been widely reported: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/dropbox-ceo-pushes-toward-profitability-in-a-post-unicorn-era https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-14/dropbox-c... https://www.wsj.com/articles/dropbox-ceo-were-cash-flow-positive-1465938538 https://www.wsj.com/articles/dropbox-ceo-were-cash-flow-posi... https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-flow-positive-in-no-rush-to-ipo/ https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/14/dropbox-says-it-is-cash-fl... But I have not personally inspected their financial statements and conducted an audit to confirm this with my own two eyes, if that's what you're asking.

meritt 10y ago

It's bewildering to me how a company can have $1B in revenue and not able to make file-syncing profitable.

brianwawok 10y ago
I assume their two biggest expenses are employees and the free product. Drop employees and they are insta profitable, but innovation slows. Drop the free plan, and they lose the cheap marketing they have going on. What is the right play for them? Seems tough.
- pestaa 10y ago
  > Drop the free plan, and they lose the cheap marketing they have going on. Is it cheap though when combined with wages it's more than they make?
pm90 10y ago
Why? Amazon made billions in revenue for years and only recently became profitable.
- meritt 10y ago
  And that was purely a tax-avoidance strategy. Top employees have always been compensated via stock instead of any form of profit sharing. Now that Amazon literally can't spend their money quickly enough, they're doing stock buybacks for the exact same reason: it's a technique to distribute dividends without causing a taxable event. We'll see when Dropbox files whether or not they are executing the same strategy. My guess is they are, since it's hard for me to believe you can't attain profitability on $1B in revenue for a file-syncing platform.
- bigtimeidiot 10y ago
  >"Why? Amazon made billions in revenue for years and only recently became profitable." Do you think the complexity of Amazon and Dropbox are even in the same universe? Disclaimer: I like both companies.