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I don't understand why Carta or Opendoor should be affected by Coronavirus. Carta: Offering stock options to your employees does not seem to be something short

I don't understand why Carta or Opendoor should be affected by Coronavirus. Carta: Offering stock options to your employees does not seem to be something short term enough that 2-3 months of slowed business cycle would impact sales. Opendoor: Anecdotally, I know of multiple people who have sold houses above listing in my market, others buying at or above market, and realtors doing tours (both virtually and in person). And 35% is a drastic cut. One theory is that this is reducing operating expenses to not have to raise funds this year.

chris11 7y ago
Techcrunch wrote an article in May 2019 about Carta raising a Series E. They also reported an annual revenue run rate of 55 million with nearly 600 employees. That's less than 100k per employee. I'm not sure if Carta's profitable. https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/06/carta-was-just-valued-at-1-7-billion-by-andreessen-horowitz-in-a-deal-some-see-as-rich/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/06/carta-was-just-valued-at-1...
- smileysteve 7y ago
  I have no doubt that they aren't profitable and will need to raise additional money. May 2019 gives some grips to the timing though; A 2 year expansion runway on a raise is pretty standard, so while they will likely be talking to investors this year, if they limit expansion, they should presumably be safe through 2021. But how much will their business growth metric be impacted; restaurants and face to faces weren't their business, but technology companies, and most likely those near or over a year old who have raised a round.
levi-turner 7y ago
> I don't understand why Carta or Opendoor should be affected by Coronavirus. In the abstract, I'd guess the primary theory is that you never let a crisis go to waste. These exigent circumstances allow for making moves which otherwise would cause such a ruckus that it is avoided. Deprecating products which aren't viable. Eliminating groups / etc which aren't proving value. We shall see.

chris11 7y ago

Techcrunch wrote an article in May 2019 about Carta raising a Series E. They also reported an annual revenue run rate of 55 million with nearly 600 employees. That's less than 100k per employee. I'm not sure if Carta's profitable. https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/06/carta-was-just-valued-at-1-7-billion-by-andreessen-horowitz-in-a-deal-some-see-as-rich/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/06/carta-was-just-valued-at-1...

smileysteve 7y ago
I have no doubt that they aren't profitable and will need to raise additional money. May 2019 gives some grips to the timing though; A 2 year expansion runway on a raise is pretty standard, so while they will likely be talking to investors this year, if they limit expansion, they should presumably be safe through 2021. But how much will their business growth metric be impacted; restaurants and face to faces weren't their business, but technology companies, and most likely those near or over a year old who have raised a round.

levi-turner 7y ago

> I don't understand why Carta or Opendoor should be affected by Coronavirus. In the abstract, I'd guess the primary theory is that you never let a crisis go to waste. These exigent circumstances allow for making moves which otherwise would cause such a ruckus that it is avoided. Deprecating products which aren't viable. Eliminating groups / etc which aren't proving value. We shall see.