5 ms·

I don't get it; where did surveymonkey found $35m? is there so much money to make in online surveys?

by mtw 16y ago

hvs 16y ago
There is a ton of money in online surveys. Advertisers spend a lot on surveys.
- mtw 16y ago
  what do you mean "a lot"? a company which invests $100k / month in adwords should be expected to spend how much in online surveys?
  - mrkurt 16y ago
    Advertisers generally run surveys to gauge the effectiveness of branding campaigns, not adwords campaigns. Pay for performance ads (like adwords) are much easier to validate than what people buy on big properties for branding purposes.
stanleydrew 16y ago
I'm guessing a significant portion of the $35m is in stock.
- dstein 16y ago
  I highly doubt any of it is stock considering SurveyMonkey raised money, presumably, to expand in this way.
DarrenLehane 16y ago
They recently got $100 million in financing, and 'revenues rumored to be above $50 million a year'. http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/03/surveymonkey-100-million-debt/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/03/surveymonkey-100-million-de...
pclark 16y ago
SurveyMonkey organically (no funding) grew to like, 60 people - then went out and raised $100M+ in funding, I guess its a huge market
jcampbell1 16y ago
Yeah, survey monkey does $40M/year in revenue. The company took $100M in debt financing to pay the founders, and put cash in the company coffers. The $100 million was more of a tax-arbitrage deal than anything else. (In the US equity payments are double taxed, but debt service isn't)
Lewisham 16y ago
I can believe there's the money, what I can't believe is why SurveyMonkey appears to be so entrenched, it's not a product that's hard to replicate (at least that's how it appears from the outside). It also has a URL that really looks scammy. Whenever I see a mailing list mailout from Big Corporation X, and it has a SurveyMonkey URL, I think "this is pretty much the opposite of the professional image that they're trying to pitch." I don't know how they do it. I guess that's why I'm not making the mega-bucks ;) However, it's a great exit for Wufoo, and congratulations to all of them.
- mtw 16y ago
  Based on their site, surveymonkey seems to be very good in corporate sales, having that big customer base is hard to replicate.
  - wmeredith 16y ago
    This is exactly it. The product is easy to replicate, corporate account acquisition is not.
- nhangen 16y ago
  especially since you can create surveys on Google Docs for free.

I don't get it; where did surveymonkey found $35m? is there so much money to make in online surveys?

by mtw 16y ago

I don't get it; where did surveymonkey found $35m? is there so much money to make in online surveys?

hvs 16y ago

There is a ton of money in online surveys. Advertisers spend a lot on surveys.

mtw 16y ago
what do you mean "a lot"? a company which invests $100k / month in adwords should be expected to spend how much in online surveys?
- mrkurt 16y ago
  Advertisers generally run surveys to gauge the effectiveness of branding campaigns, not adwords campaigns. Pay for performance ads (like adwords) are much easier to validate than what people buy on big properties for branding purposes.

stanleydrew 16y ago

I'm guessing a significant portion of the $35m is in stock.

dstein 16y ago
I highly doubt any of it is stock considering SurveyMonkey raised money, presumably, to expand in this way.

DarrenLehane 16y ago

They recently got $100 million in financing, and 'revenues rumored to be above $50 million a year'. http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/03/surveymonkey-100-million-debt/ http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/03/surveymonkey-100-million-de...

pclark 16y ago

SurveyMonkey organically (no funding) grew to like, 60 people - then went out and raised $100M+ in funding, I guess its a huge market

jcampbell1 16y ago

Yeah, survey monkey does $40M/year in revenue. The company took $100M in debt financing to pay the founders, and put cash in the company coffers. The $100 million was more of a tax-arbitrage deal than anything else. (In the US equity payments are double taxed, but debt service isn't)

Lewisham 16y ago

I can believe there's the money, what I can't believe is why SurveyMonkey appears to be so entrenched, it's not a product that's hard to replicate (at least that's how it appears from the outside). It also has a URL that really looks scammy. Whenever I see a mailing list mailout from Big Corporation X, and it has a SurveyMonkey URL, I think "this is pretty much the opposite of the professional image that they're trying to pitch." I don't know how they do it. I guess that's why I'm not making the mega-bucks ;) However, it's a great exit for Wufoo, and congratulations to all of them.

mtw 16y ago
Based on their site, surveymonkey seems to be very good in corporate sales, having that big customer base is hard to replicate.
- wmeredith 16y ago
  This is exactly it. The product is easy to replicate, corporate account acquisition is not.
nhangen 16y ago
especially since you can create surveys on Google Docs for free.