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Robinhood rockets to a $5.6B valuation with a massive new funding round

44 points by doppp 9y ago

mehrdada 9y ago
Gambling closely ties into a fundamental human interest. A legal gambling app is definitely hugely valuable. I truly mean to say this in the most positive angle possible. I think they are providing a valuable service and a great app, but it is a very nice business as well due to the above. Kudos to the team.
- 49bc 9y ago
  I’ve yet to see any indication that people “gamble” (day trade) more when it’s free versus fee. Is this a fair criticism to level on Robinhood? Besides, they have day-trading limits built into the app. It’s really just a mobile-first brokerage with extremely low net fees. And I’m grateful for it.
  - mehrdada 9y ago
    It was not aimed to be critical at all, just a comment on the attractiveness of the business. Anecdotally, it definitely feels like it has broadened the base of the retail investor audience (which I think is a great thing) and if you have seen the options and crypto currency UIs it strikes similarities with fantasy football and makes those objects shinier.
  - mrlala 9y ago
    > I’ve yet to see any indication that people “gamble” (day trade) more when it’s free versus fee. I wouldn't say they "gamble" more because it's free, but because it's too damn easy on mobile. That's not a "good thing" from my point of view. People shouldn't be training themselves that they can manage their portfolio anytime/anywhere with a device they have on themselves 99.9999% of the time. It simply encourages a person to be way more active with their portfolio than they should be. Of course it has valid uses for some people, but most are just going to get themselves into trouble.
whack 9y ago
I'm not a Robinhood user, so correct me if I'm wrong. But as someone who's used ~5 different online brokerages, I'm having a hard time understanding what innovation they brought to the table. Buying/selling stocks online is already pretty damn simple, and takes 1-2 minutes tops. Where exactly is the innovation here? "We're going to undercut the competition and save users a couple clicks" is now a $5B business idea? Kudos to the founders, but this hardly seems like the stuff movies are made of.
- chrisabrams 9y ago
  They understand the mobile experience better than most brokerages, and they understand that mobile is where most users are spending their time.
  - hkmurakami 9y ago
    IMO Interactive Brokers has a good mobile experience. However, IB is decidedly not meant for the young, millennial, small amount of investment principal, getting started with investing/trading segment that Robinhood has carved out for itself. So Robinhood's angle isn't just mobile first, it's mobile first for the segment of the population that expects such a product experience, who are going to grow their portfolios and trading activity in the coming decades.
  - mrlala 9y ago
    Pretty scary that someone would be doing most mobile trading on a phone from a risk perspective. That's going to train people to basically turn into day traders.
- x2f10 9y ago
  Robinhood has multiple (perceived or real) advantages: there are no trading fees or minimums; you can trade equities, options, and cryto-currencies; the app's UI is simple and intuitive; etcetera. Robinhood is doing the most to make trading accessible to masses, and from what I've read online, they're quite successful at doing so. Robinhood is the defacto trading platform for the younger generation.
robotkdick 8y ago
The thing about Robinhood is that it doesn't feel like a financial services company. Their advantage is an ineffable quality. The closest I can come to describing that feeling of using the service is it's like someone in your family made it for you. This may sound strange, but there's a lot of love there. That level of attention to detail and quality is rare and apple-like.
- perl4ever 8y ago
  I found it amusing that Baiju Bhatt compared ill-informed investing encouraged by Robinhood to dropping your iPhone in the toilet.[1] [1] http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/robinhood-investing-app/ http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/robinhood-investing-app/
ddp 8y ago
Oh, that's nice. Can it land on a barge?

44 points by doppp 9y ago

Gambling closely ties into a fundamental human interest. A legal gambling app is definitely hugely valuable. I truly mean to say this in the most positive angle possible. I think they are providing a valuable service and a great app, but it is a very nice business as well due to the above. Kudos to the team.

49bc 9y ago
I’ve yet to see any indication that people “gamble” (day trade) more when it’s free versus fee. Is this a fair criticism to level on Robinhood? Besides, they have day-trading limits built into the app. It’s really just a mobile-first brokerage with extremely low net fees. And I’m grateful for it.
- mehrdada 9y ago
  It was not aimed to be critical at all, just a comment on the attractiveness of the business. Anecdotally, it definitely feels like it has broadened the base of the retail investor audience (which I think is a great thing) and if you have seen the options and crypto currency UIs it strikes similarities with fantasy football and makes those objects shinier.
- mrlala 9y ago
  > I’ve yet to see any indication that people “gamble” (day trade) more when it’s free versus fee. I wouldn't say they "gamble" more because it's free, but because it's too damn easy on mobile. That's not a "good thing" from my point of view. People shouldn't be training themselves that they can manage their portfolio anytime/anywhere with a device they have on themselves 99.9999% of the time. It simply encourages a person to be way more active with their portfolio than they should be. Of course it has valid uses for some people, but most are just going to get themselves into trouble.

whack 9y ago

I'm not a Robinhood user, so correct me if I'm wrong. But as someone who's used ~5 different online brokerages, I'm having a hard time understanding what innovation they brought to the table. Buying/selling stocks online is already pretty damn simple, and takes 1-2 minutes tops. Where exactly is the innovation here? "We're going to undercut the competition and save users a couple clicks" is now a $5B business idea? Kudos to the founders, but this hardly seems like the stuff movies are made of.

chrisabrams 9y ago
They understand the mobile experience better than most brokerages, and they understand that mobile is where most users are spending their time.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  IMO Interactive Brokers has a good mobile experience. However, IB is decidedly not meant for the young, millennial, small amount of investment principal, getting started with investing/trading segment that Robinhood has carved out for itself. So Robinhood's angle isn't just mobile first, it's mobile first for the segment of the population that expects such a product experience, who are going to grow their portfolios and trading activity in the coming decades.
- mrlala 9y ago
  Pretty scary that someone would be doing most mobile trading on a phone from a risk perspective. That's going to train people to basically turn into day traders.
x2f10 9y ago
Robinhood has multiple (perceived or real) advantages: there are no trading fees or minimums; you can trade equities, options, and cryto-currencies; the app's UI is simple and intuitive; etcetera. Robinhood is doing the most to make trading accessible to masses, and from what I've read online, they're quite successful at doing so. Robinhood is the defacto trading platform for the younger generation.

robotkdick 8y ago

The thing about Robinhood is that it doesn't feel like a financial services company. Their advantage is an ineffable quality. The closest I can come to describing that feeling of using the service is it's like someone in your family made it for you. This may sound strange, but there's a lot of love there. That level of attention to detail and quality is rare and apple-like.

perl4ever 8y ago
I found it amusing that Baiju Bhatt compared ill-informed investing encouraged by Robinhood to dropping your iPhone in the toilet.[1] [1] http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/robinhood-investing-app/ http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/robinhood-investing-app/

ddp 8y ago

Oh, that's nice. Can it land on a barge?