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Getting into debt with highest interest rate in decades doesn't bode well for the future. On the other hand, VC funding seems to have dried up as well. Between
by nafey 3y ago
Getting into debt with highest interest rate in decades doesn't bode well for the future. On the other hand, VC funding seems to have dried up as well. Between rock and a hard place.
- fisherjeff 3y agoEh, I’d be surprised if the bonds weren’t callable.
- CyberDildonics 3y agoEh, why do you think that?
- fisherjeff 3y agoI mean for one thing, a cursory look at the bond market right now shows callable bonds outnumber non-callables 10 to 1.
- Thoeu388 3y agoTelegram is one social network that has a huge potential for growth today. It is a dominant platform for War reporting from both sides. And it is not compromised by history of censorship, and CIA connections, like other social networks. We will probably see it growing in US, as we get closer to elections, and censorship tightens!
- sethherr 3y agoIt is compromised by Russian connections though
- Thoeu388 3y ago[flagged]
- rcme 3y agoSome people are also idiots.
- MengerSponge 3y agoI don't know about you, but my household buys Russian for its legendary quality
- pavlov 3y ago“The enemy of my enemy is my friend” is a fallacy that does seem to be driving increasing numbers of Americans to positions that are indistinguishable from Russian talking points. Saves money for Putin’s troll factory at least.
- Thoeu388 3y agoIs there any other solid alternative? Gab? Or Twitter under Musk? Or some other federated network? What platform would you recommend to people in Turkey, Iran, Africa... Or opposition in West that sometimes can not even get bank accounts? It is a serious question! Russia is far away, it is not going to put you in jail. We need to communicate.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fortuna86 3y ago[dead]
- kemotep 3y agoIf you are tired of “various Russia Gates affairs” then being happy with a company having ties to the Russian government seems counterproductive.
- DANmode 3y ago...didn't the founder get ousted out of VK (which he also founded) for not playing ball with Russian intelligence? Or did I get that wrong?
- pndy 3y agoDurov brothers left Russia few years ago; Pavel seems to be moving around while Nikolai stays in Saint Kitts and Nevis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_(software)#Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegram_(software)#Developmen... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_of_Telegram_in_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blocking_of_Telegram_in_Russia
- ushakov 3y agoI think they’re playing ball, otherwise Telegram would have been declared a “foreign agent” like any other free press
- dgellow 3y agoThat’s pure conspiracy thinking. Their service has been more or less blocked countrywide in Russia multiple times in the past, without too much success. Pavlov Durov has been publicly anti Putin since 2014 and exiled himself following euromaiden. Telegram has never been a Russian company, it was Berlin based, and is now in Dubai. All of this has been public information since years, there isn’t any proof of anything malevolent happening with the service.
- thewinnie 3y agoMostly it was a spectacle for outsiders. Otherwise how its possible to explain that Durov continue to doing business and operate in Russia after? IMHO - it would not be possible for him to leave russia alive without getting some tradeoff with Russian intelligence
- natded 3y ago[dead]
- stereoradonc 3y agoAny proof?
- chologrande 3y agoSure - but where's the revenue come from?
- spacebanana7 3y agoChinese chat apps have monetised really well through e-commerce. Admittedly this success hasn't be achieved by WhatsApp etc, so it not trivial to replicate.
- Thoeu388 3y agoHow much revenue do they need to generate for $250M investment? Paid version with extra features, $40M per year, and they will do fine.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago> How much revenue do they need to generate for $250M investment $30 to 40 million for interest on this issue. Telegram sold $1bn of bonds in March 2021, when rates were 25 bps, with a 7% coupon [1]. Rates are now 5.25%. Their new bonds should thus yield 12%+. That implies a total annual interest bill over $100 million, with a refinancing in 2026 on $1bn. Not ideal. [1] https://bondblox.com/news/messaging-app-telegram-sells-bonds-worth-1bn-to-investors-including-mubadala https://bondblox.com/news/messaging-app-telegram-sells-bonds...
- sofixa 3y agoThey have Telegram Premium, and ads for public channels, so there are revenue streams.
- chii 3y agothe revenue comes from the future acquirer of the company paying out to the current shareholders. I don't really believe consumers of telegram are willing to pay for it. It's in the same boat financially as twitter - but got better PR atm.
- dgellow 3y agoI don’t know what you’re implying exactly but Telegram does collaborate with local laws in countries they operate, and that’s counting takedowns and criminal investigations when illegal content is being shared, as every business entity should do.
- shubb 3y agoTelegram is based in UAE, a country famous for Totok, a social network designed to spy on you. The UAE is an absolute monarchy, and the law is a little more openly a tool if the state than in the west. A company with legal challenges exists there because the state wants it to. The UAE looks unaligned but in a real way it is part of a Chinese Russian axis when it comes to this sort of thing. For example totok was based on Chinese spyware. For those of us who don't share truly sensitive information, I'm sure it's fine, but Ukrainian war reporters probably shouldn't have it installed.
- CryptoBanker 3y agoWould it shock you to learn that Telegram is a major source of news for the ongoing Ukraine/Russia conflict? https://www.kyivpost.com/post/17868 https://www.kyivpost.com/post/17868
- Barrin92 3y agoDurov's worth more than 10 billion and he bought a quarter of the bonds himself, so at the end of the day he can keep the lights on for a long time. That's basically how Telegram has been financed up until now.