Companies like Spotify and Dropbox Are Changing the I.P.O. Landscape
Companies like Dropbox and Spotify are changing what initial public offerings (IPOs) mean for Silicon Valley and the U.S. economy. With Snapchat and Blue Apron hitting IPO status and seeing quickly-dropped share prices, startups who find success with private funding are no longer guaranteed the same results when it comes time for a public investment. […]
Spotify Picked Up Ten Million Subscribers Since March
Chances are, most app developers do not need to be sold on Spotify. With its massive catalog, wonderfully curated playlists, and high quality audio, the reigning champ of streaming music services has already captured a healthy share of the market. The Napster days of sketchy pirating may not be totally over, but services like Spotify […]
New Universal Music Group Deal Moves Spotify Closer to IPO
All the hype about the resurgence of vinyl and cassettes aside, the majority of revenues in the music industry now come from streaming. Since the early days of Napster, iOS app developers have heard the American music industry discussed as if it were on death’s doorstep, but streaming revenues have given it something of a […]
Is Airbnb Going Public After Its Massive Funding Round?
In the wake of Snapchat’s IPO earlier this month, the big question for mobile app developers is what unicorn will go public next. Airbnb always seems to come up in these conversations, and after a SEC filing last week revealed that the company raised $1 billion in a funding round that began last summer, many […]
SNAP’s IPO Has an Odd Footnote: The ‘Camera Company’ Clause
Snapchat’s IPO was one of the most anticipated tech events of the year. So you can bet that when $SNAP went live this Thursday, app developers were watching. Would it soar or sink? Will traders benefit, or only underwriters? And why is the social media titan listed as, of all things, a “camera company?” You […]
Snapchat Prepares for IPO, Drawing Developer Speculation
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal (not to mention the tech rumor mill), SnapChat is starting to close in on an IPO for as early as this coming March. It’s been a great year for tech IPOs, so app developers and investors are cautiously optimistic that the messaging and social media Unicorn […]
How Much Equity Should Early Startup Team Members Get?
In a particularly emotional segment of the popular podcast Startup by Alex Blumberg, two co-founders discuss how much equity each party “deserves” based on their skills and contribution to the company — and the huge disparity in what each considers fair almost tears the team apart. The scene is particularly powerful because, rather than discussing […]
What Twitter’s #RIPTwitter Fiasco Can Teach Young Startups
If you’re a Twitter user, you’ve probably noticed the #RIPTwitter hashtag floating around your Twitter feed. (Whether that feed appears chronological or dynamic is another discussion.) For iPhone and Android app developers, watching the once-promising unicorn startup drop in value from an initial high of $45 per share to today’s low of under $20 has […]
Investors and Developers Cautious as Square Goes Public
Square recently filed IPO (initial public offering) paperwork; the current offering is listed at $275 million. Given Square CEO Jack Dorsey’s reinstatement as CEO at Twitter the week prior, investors have voiced some concerns as to how Dorsey’s split commitments will affect operations at both companies. Square’s filing notes that “[Dorsey’s renewed involvement at Twitter] […]
PayPal Splits from eBay Creating a Mobile FinTech Powerhouse
PayPal recently started trading as a standalone entity on the Nasdaq, marking its official split from eBay. In recognition of the occasion, PayPal’s CEO, Dan Schulman, shed some light on the company’s revamped strategic outlook. There were three key takeaways from Schulman’s Q2 earnings call: Mobile is a top priority. Schulman envisions a future in […]