15 ms·

Surely if you had 10B in cash you could start a similar company and grow it to 300M in EBITDA for cheaper?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
sombremesa 5y ago
I'd agree, Mailchimp has spent a pretty penny on advertising and still doesn't seem to be all that strong as a brand or household name. $10B valuation doesn't seem justifiable.
- runako 5y ago
  > all that strong as a brand or household name. Which email services have stronger brands? Why would an email platform for business be a household name any more than would the top HR software?
  - sombremesa 5y ago
    > Which email services have stronger brands? None. No "Email service" (let's say newsletters specifically, because obviously gmail exists) has a strong brand - that's my point, it was a blank canvas to start and they've spent a ton on paint with little to show for it. > Why would an email platform for business be a household name any more than would the top HR software? Businesses are made up of people. Look at Salesforce, Workday, Zoom...
    - runako 5y ago
      > they've spent a ton on paint with little to show for it. This is a bizarre comment under an article for a company that bootstrapped to a $10 billion valuation.
      - sombremesa 5y ago
        ? If I say "Timmy never did well in school" are you going to run up and say that's a bizarre comment because Timmy is an oscar winner?
omarhaneef 5y ago
Could you? I would just point out the old you can't make 9 babies in 1 month with 9 mothers.
runako 5y ago
Let's say you tried that. At best, you'd have a company similar to 2021 Mailchimp at some point in the future (when Mailchimp will be even bigger). So in some sense you'd still end up behind versus buying Mailchimp. Then you'd have to compete against Mailchimp and other established brands to get there, which means high competitive and execution risk factors. That means your $10B investment in NewMailCo is at risk of loss, with (say) odds of 50% of building a success like Mailchimp. Further, you run the very real risk of losing all of it if you try to start from scratch. Most startups fail, regardless of available capital (Quibi, Juicero, etc.).
- itsdrewmiller 5y ago
  The parent comment said “less than that” not the same amount - clearly it wouldn’t make sense if you expected to spend the same. (That said, the parent comment is classic HN “that seems easy” and is likely to be wrong.)

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

I'd agree, Mailchimp has spent a pretty penny on advertising and still doesn't seem to be all that strong as a brand or household name. $10B valuation doesn't seem justifiable.

runako 5y ago
> all that strong as a brand or household name. Which email services have stronger brands? Why would an email platform for business be a household name any more than would the top HR software?
- sombremesa 5y ago
  > Which email services have stronger brands? None. No "Email service" (let's say newsletters specifically, because obviously gmail exists) has a strong brand - that's my point, it was a blank canvas to start and they've spent a ton on paint with little to show for it. > Why would an email platform for business be a household name any more than would the top HR software? Businesses are made up of people. Look at Salesforce, Workday, Zoom...
  - runako 5y ago
    > they've spent a ton on paint with little to show for it. This is a bizarre comment under an article for a company that bootstrapped to a $10 billion valuation.
    - sombremesa 5y ago
      ? If I say "Timmy never did well in school" are you going to run up and say that's a bizarre comment because Timmy is an oscar winner?

omarhaneef 5y ago

Could you? I would just point out the old you can't make 9 babies in 1 month with 9 mothers.

runako 5y ago

Let's say you tried that. At best, you'd have a company similar to 2021 Mailchimp at some point in the future (when Mailchimp will be even bigger). So in some sense you'd still end up behind versus buying Mailchimp. Then you'd have to compete against Mailchimp and other established brands to get there, which means high competitive and execution risk factors. That means your $10B investment in NewMailCo is at risk of loss, with (say) odds of 50% of building a success like Mailchimp. Further, you run the very real risk of losing all of it if you try to start from scratch. Most startups fail, regardless of available capital (Quibi, Juicero, etc.).

itsdrewmiller 5y ago
The parent comment said “less than that” not the same amount - clearly it wouldn’t make sense if you expected to spend the same. (That said, the parent comment is classic HN “that seems easy” and is likely to be wrong.)