4 ms·

It's a bit terrifying. There are enough real companies with real revenue outside of marketing that we can probably safely say this isn't complete repeat of the

It's a bit terrifying. There are enough real companies with real revenue outside of marketing that we can probably safely say this isn't complete repeat of the Dot Com Bubble. But damn does it rhyme in some parts. Damn does it rhyme.

api 12y ago
I don't think there is an overall sector-wide bubble today, but there may very well be isolated pockets and individual companies with bubbly Ponzi-like characteristics. The late 90s was just insane. Basically you had hundreds of companies much airier than Snapchat, some without even a product. Some of them even went IPO like this. It was crazy. Today looks nothing like that. If Snapchat is well run, it will use its current ability to raise capital to build or buy other assets that can generate revenue. For a mature company version of this, look at present-day Yahoo-- its core brand is almost dead but it owns a lot of other stuff. If it's not well run (or if the founders don't care) it'll eventually deflate and the latest stage investors will lose big.
ryanSrich 12y ago
SnapChat is starting to sell ad space. So I'm sure they'll generate hundreds of millions of dollars and end up being fine. A company that large doesn't just fail over night. Founders and early employees are set for life. The real tragedy imo is that these companies are idolized by the valley hive mind. Smart, young developers seem to be more interested in building social-mobile-ad-generating-app-number-twomillion than work on something worthwhile. Worthwhile being healthcare, education, space travel, energy, etc. Not some viral app that sells ads.
sixQuarks 12y ago
this is nowhere near the repeat of the Dot Com Bubble. It's WAY BIGGER, but played with VC money instead of public money. We've got several startups valued at over $10 Billion each. Back in dot com bubble, a billion dollar startup was a huge deal. These days a startup raises $50 million and no one blinks an eye.

api 12y ago

I don't think there is an overall sector-wide bubble today, but there may very well be isolated pockets and individual companies with bubbly Ponzi-like characteristics. The late 90s was just insane. Basically you had hundreds of companies much airier than Snapchat, some without even a product. Some of them even went IPO like this. It was crazy. Today looks nothing like that. If Snapchat is well run, it will use its current ability to raise capital to build or buy other assets that can generate revenue. For a mature company version of this, look at present-day Yahoo-- its core brand is almost dead but it owns a lot of other stuff. If it's not well run (or if the founders don't care) it'll eventually deflate and the latest stage investors will lose big.

ryanSrich 12y ago

SnapChat is starting to sell ad space. So I'm sure they'll generate hundreds of millions of dollars and end up being fine. A company that large doesn't just fail over night. Founders and early employees are set for life. The real tragedy imo is that these companies are idolized by the valley hive mind. Smart, young developers seem to be more interested in building social-mobile-ad-generating-app-number-twomillion than work on something worthwhile. Worthwhile being healthcare, education, space travel, energy, etc. Not some viral app that sells ads.

sixQuarks 12y ago

this is nowhere near the repeat of the Dot Com Bubble. It's WAY BIGGER, but played with VC money instead of public money. We've got several startups valued at over $10 Billion each. Back in dot com bubble, a billion dollar startup was a huge deal. These days a startup raises $50 million and no one blinks an eye.