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Engaged users are directly convertible to money.

I don't see how this is a given. Monetization is no simple task, otherwise Snapchat etc... would have a fairly straightforward way of implementing it without disrupting the core business. Last I checked there is no good strategy and the in-app purchases doesn't seem to be working that well outside of games. The idea of push ads like they are doing with their snapchat self-promotion stuff is a recipe for disaster from unsolicited companies.




Monetizing users is hard as hell. Selling highly engaged users to investors to let them take a crack at monetization is easy. That's the conversion I was referring to.


That's a shell game. It's not how you run an economy - not that Snapchat or its investors are trying to make a fundamental industry.

The reason I even say that is because of the dollar figures thrown around. The numbers for this shit are staggering.


Scarface: "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

Slashdot formula for startups: 1. Idea. 2. ?? 3. Profit.

What I think it is: 1. Users 2. Power. 3. Profit.


Daily repeat traffic.


Establishing a monopoly is more valuable than monetizing, which is what Snapchat has. You can monetize later, but you can't snatch all the users later.


making money is almost never a problem. Everyone says it is and then the said company blows the doors off expectations . Facebook did it with mobile in 2012 when all the experts said it couldn't be done. Mobile engagement is higher than desktop. Look at amazon and how long wall st. has ignored profits. All the company need to do is flip a switch and the money will pour in, and the users won't leave either, despite all the predictions that they should.


Look at amazon and how long wall st. has ignored profits.

Totally different. Amazon has revenue - they just take that revenue and pump it back in. Snapchat etc... doesn't and can't even prove they will have revenue.


Maybe Snapchat should sell that money switch to Twitter. So far, they're only alive by raising more and more money. Same for Splunk, box, and others.




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