I am 30+, use it occasionally, and see more and more of my older friends signing up. Especially those friends far away from the echo chamber. This fundraising feels smart for investors who want a great return and for the company to use to get to an IPO.
If you don't use Snapchat, or haven't used it in a few years, it is probably time you take a second look.
It's useful and fun to a large number of people and definitely has some non-trivial value.
Does it have enough value to justify this kind of money being plowed into it? That's where I'm not convinced. These are big numbers and for them to ever make a return the revenue growth would have to be really really huge. I can't see Snapchat becoming Google or Facebook since its interaction profile is too narrow and brief.
We're basically talking about an ad-engagement and profiling medium here.
Google has huge value as an ad platform because they serve ads at the time of maximum intent -- their ads are targeted to what you are looking for right now and so they're more likely to convert than ads served at random times.
Facebook has huge value as an ad platform because they have so much data to target ads accurately and gather metrics about who engages with them. Many people use Facebook ads not as primary ads to drive conversion but as 'probes' to develop customer profiles, so it's almost like a focus group as a service.
What monstrous value is Snapchat going to provide in this space that will generate returns higher than the S&P 500 on many billions in investment over the next, say, 10 years?
I have no problem with snapchat the app. I think it is dumb, and don't enjoy using it, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't exist.
What I do have a problem with is Snapchat being put on a pedestal, and perpetuating the SV cash grab business model. Get a bunch of users with a trendy app, data mine the shit out of them, and serve them ads until the app folds. There is no lasting value, and it is just the kind of rampant speculation that collapsed our industry in the past.
FB acquired Instagram for its user base. Amazon acquired Twitch for its user base. Google acquired Youtube for its user base.
How many snapchat users do you think also use those apps? How much additional value is being extracted from them via snapchat?
That's one of the reasons they are so valuable - data. Data is so valuable to companies - it gives them insight into how consumers behave. Gett Taxi just raised $300M from Volkswagen and it's not because of their tech. It's because they have data on how urban residents move and travel. Google released TensorFlow and gave everyone access to easy to use and super advanced neural nets and they do this because it's not actually their algorithms that give them their competitive edge - it's their data. More data beats a clever algorithm every time.
I think Snapchat can be profitable at some point but it would have to be a blockbuster in terms of revenue/profit to justify an 11-digit valuation.
You would think people would be a little more skeptical after watching the twitter downward spiral.