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Not sure why this is on the front page but anyway... > But a lesson from this story is twofold: when Steve Jobs tries to buy you, take it. Economically, the r
by ElProlactin 2mo ago
Not sure why this is on the front page but anyway...
> But a lesson from this story is twofold: when Steve Jobs tries to buy you, take it. Economically, the return from a capital efficiency standpoint would be much better. Second, public companies that are truly just a feature never give you great returns.
Dropbox was a private company when Jobs offered to buy it for $800 million in 2009. Drew Houston (the founder) has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation since then and is today worth over $2 billion. He's also on the board of Meta.
So the point about investing in companies that are features might be a decent (if obvious) one for retail investors looking at public equities, but the lesson here isn't "when Steve Jobs tries to buy you, take it".
- Taikhoom10 2mo agoI was referring to multiples on invested capital. Plus, it's a bit hurtful when you IPO your company, the stock stays flat if not down, and you step down; I think an Apple acquisition like that is much more of a happy ending IMO.
- ElProlactin 2mo agoYou're thinking like an investor, not an entrepreneur/founder.
- Taikhoom10 2mo agoYes, you're right
- retired 2mo agoI would have taken the 800 million and retired. Would easily be worth 1.5 billion with simple investment. And you would not have needed to work those 17 years.
- ElProlactin 2mo agoBut you're not Drew Houston.
- retired 2mo agoCorrect. At the 26 years old that he was I would take the millions and just have a chill life. Maybe start collecting rare Lamborghinis.
- ElProlactin 2mo agoAnd maybe that's why you didn't start Dropbox.
- retired 2mo agoStill started and sold my own company. Quit working. But no, it wasn’t Dropbox.
- Taikhoom10 2mo agowhich company?
- sunnybeetroot 2mo agoOneDrive
- testdelacc1 2mo agoIt’s right there in his name. Retired Inc.
- monooso 2mo agoThe advice isn't for Drew Houston, it's written as general advice for anyone. The point is that different people have different priorities, and retiring in your mid-twenties to enjoy your many millions is a perfectly reasonable choice.
- stymaar 2mo agoIf he wanted to “retire” he never had to wor in the first place, he could have hired someone to take his jobs while still keeping his equity. But being the CEO of a well-known startup has a lot of status benefits compared to just being rich. And that's all what matters at this level of wealth. And it gives you a sense of purpose, which we all need.
- bouk 2mo ago$800M in 2009 Apple stock would be about $24B today!
- wongarsu 2mo agoBut $800M in USD is worth only about $1.2B today. Keeping the money invested in Apple is convenient if you're already paid in stock, but beyond the lock-up period we have to keep in mind that it's just one of many things he could have done when accepting the money Though I think it fair to speculate that if he had taken the deal he would likely have more money today, at the cost of less status
- Taikhoom10 2mo agoYeah but who can say Steve Jobs bought their company so early on, the early Dropbox design was so Apple-esque.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]