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Your comment reminds me of the infamous dropbox comment "I can just build an FTP server in a weekend" (paraphrasing). Hint: Software is just one piece of a bus

Your comment reminds me of the infamous dropbox comment "I can just build an FTP server in a weekend" (paraphrasing). Hint: Software is just one piece of a business even a SAAS business. A billion dollar business requires many other things to work.

BoorishBears 4y ago
This has got to be one of the misused parable in HN's history. The Dropbox comment was missing the utility of a turnkey solution. It was like "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.": techies missing the value of complicating things in order to produce a product that Just Works. This comment isn't doing that, it's questioning the resources that it took places like Calendly as it exists. Calendly has a moat in the fact that it has a massive network effect... but it's natural to question what exactly about that moat qualifies a billion dollar valuation, and the answer is extremely little. If Dropbox had been something you could build as it existed in a weekend it'd be one thing, but you couldn't. You could build something that had the same technical function, but none of the user experience. Calendly isn't that.
- codegeek 4y ago
  "but it's natural to question what exactly about that moat qualifies a billion dollar valuation, and the answer is extremely little." I am no shill for Calendly but a happy user and as far as I know, they are doing 100M in ARR. It is a lot more than "I can code this app in a weekend". Whether this justifies a billion dollar valuation is a separate discussion but for sure it is not that easy to do what Calendly is doing. Easy is not same as simple btw.
  - BoorishBears 4y ago
    I don't know if you're just being intentionally reductionist by doubling down on this "I can code this app in a weekend" angle when I just spent something like a hundred words explaining how that's not the point or what... but people are talking about the business here. And it's the whole business: Not just 100M in ARR, but 100M in ARR with what burn rate and what exit that won't just be dumping a steaming pile on the public market as has flown in years past. Maybe you're just missing the forest for the trees when these questions come up now too: We're not in 2019 anymore. It used to be that every startup with a faint pulse could justify any valuation by throwing up revenue numbers and see a successful exit at some point. Now money is tightening up and people are starting to question fundamentals again. The comment you replied to is essentially saying: This is a sign of the times, 3B dollar valuation, ~100M ARR, likely an insane burn rate that that ARR doesn't even begin to touch I don't know how that's even a controversial take unless your argument is "well we've seen even worse do fine" (because yeah, it did well fine in the past climate of free money)
    - codegeek 4y ago
      I don't necessarily disagree with the "Is Billion dollar valuation justified" thing but I originally replied to GP who said "90% of hacker news readers could build both these products in a weekend or 2".
      - BoorishBears 4y ago
        They started with the words "So calendly is worth billions?"...
semerda 4y ago
Spot on. A Product (which most engineers can hack together) shouldn't be confused with a Business.
rfolstad 4y ago
dropbox did something useful. It made it easy to share files across platforms and the web. This is a feature that should be part of your calendar software to allow people to create calendar entries in your calendar and see availability.
- klabb3 4y ago
  Not really, depending on how you define sharing. Dropbox added sharing as a feature much later. Their initial product was automatic cloud based backup and sync, across desktop devices. You can still tell by the UX and pricing model - sharing is slightly awkward and I believe rate limited.

BoorishBears 4y ago

This has got to be one of the misused parable in HN's history. The Dropbox comment was missing the utility of a turnkey solution. It was like "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.": techies missing the value of complicating things in order to produce a product that Just Works. This comment isn't doing that, it's questioning the resources that it took places like Calendly as it exists. Calendly has a moat in the fact that it has a massive network effect... but it's natural to question what exactly about that moat qualifies a billion dollar valuation, and the answer is extremely little. If Dropbox had been something you could build as it existed in a weekend it'd be one thing, but you couldn't. You could build something that had the same technical function, but none of the user experience. Calendly isn't that.

codegeek 4y ago
"but it's natural to question what exactly about that moat qualifies a billion dollar valuation, and the answer is extremely little." I am no shill for Calendly but a happy user and as far as I know, they are doing 100M in ARR. It is a lot more than "I can code this app in a weekend". Whether this justifies a billion dollar valuation is a separate discussion but for sure it is not that easy to do what Calendly is doing. Easy is not same as simple btw.
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  I don't know if you're just being intentionally reductionist by doubling down on this "I can code this app in a weekend" angle when I just spent something like a hundred words explaining how that's not the point or what... but people are talking about the business here. And it's the whole business: Not just 100M in ARR, but 100M in ARR with what burn rate and what exit that won't just be dumping a steaming pile on the public market as has flown in years past. Maybe you're just missing the forest for the trees when these questions come up now too: We're not in 2019 anymore. It used to be that every startup with a faint pulse could justify any valuation by throwing up revenue numbers and see a successful exit at some point. Now money is tightening up and people are starting to question fundamentals again. The comment you replied to is essentially saying: This is a sign of the times, 3B dollar valuation, ~100M ARR, likely an insane burn rate that that ARR doesn't even begin to touch I don't know how that's even a controversial take unless your argument is "well we've seen even worse do fine" (because yeah, it did well fine in the past climate of free money)
  - codegeek 4y ago
    I don't necessarily disagree with the "Is Billion dollar valuation justified" thing but I originally replied to GP who said "90% of hacker news readers could build both these products in a weekend or 2".
    - BoorishBears 4y ago
      They started with the words "So calendly is worth billions?"...

semerda 4y ago

Spot on. A Product (which most engineers can hack together) shouldn't be confused with a Business.

rfolstad 4y ago

dropbox did something useful. It made it easy to share files across platforms and the web. This is a feature that should be part of your calendar software to allow people to create calendar entries in your calendar and see availability.

klabb3 4y ago
Not really, depending on how you define sharing. Dropbox added sharing as a feature much later. Their initial product was automatic cloud based backup and sync, across desktop devices. You can still tell by the UX and pricing model - sharing is slightly awkward and I believe rate limited.