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> Its peak revenue, disclosed by Facebook at the time of acquisition, was ~$1.5 million/year Not sure where you got that number, but in 2013 (before aquisition

> Its peak revenue, disclosed by Facebook at the time of acquisition, was ~$1.5 million/year Not sure where you got that number, but in 2013 (before aquisition) they reported ~$10 million in revenue. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000132680114000047/exhibit991auditedwhatsappi.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000132680114...) They brought in $15 million in the first half of 2014. (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000132680114000047/exhibit992unauditedwhatsap.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1326801/000132680114...) They only had 55 employees at acquisition. They might not have become a unicorn... but there most definitely was a path to profitability.

paxys 6y ago
This was my source - https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/040915/how-whatsapp-makes-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/04091... (which points to that same document but somehow draws a different conclusion). Also that document shows a net loss of $230 million in that same period, so not exactly on a strong path to profitability.
- jonplackett 6y ago
  does show though that if they could get all 500 million to pay just that $1 a year, they've got $270 million profit.
  - paxys 6y ago
    - 30% goes straight to Apple/Google. - A large chunk of the world (especially people in developing countries) will be unwilling to pay anything more than $0. - Even if they want to pay, most of those users won't have a payment method set up. How many of their 2 billion+ users have a credit card or even a bank account?
- mwambua 6y ago
  Thanks! Looks like they link Facebook's 10Q filing. Can't tell how they arrived at the number though. I agree that their losses were surprisingly high at the time... especially given how lean their engineering team and operations were supposed to be. (https://blog.whatsapp.com/1-million-is-so-2011/?lang=en https://blog.whatsapp.com/1-million-is-so-2011/?lang=en)

paxys 6y ago

This was my source - https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/040915/how-whatsapp-makes-money.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/04091... (which points to that same document but somehow draws a different conclusion). Also that document shows a net loss of $230 million in that same period, so not exactly on a strong path to profitability.

jonplackett 6y ago
does show though that if they could get all 500 million to pay just that $1 a year, they've got $270 million profit.
- paxys 6y ago
  - 30% goes straight to Apple/Google. - A large chunk of the world (especially people in developing countries) will be unwilling to pay anything more than $0. - Even if they want to pay, most of those users won't have a payment method set up. How many of their 2 billion+ users have a credit card or even a bank account?
mwambua 6y ago
Thanks! Looks like they link Facebook's 10Q filing. Can't tell how they arrived at the number though. I agree that their losses were surprisingly high at the time... especially given how lean their engineering team and operations were supposed to be. (https://blog.whatsapp.com/1-million-is-so-2011/?lang=en https://blog.whatsapp.com/1-million-is-so-2011/?lang=en)