

Snapchat Snaps Up $80M From IVP At An $800M Valuation - chucknthem
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/22/source-snapchat-snaps-up-80m-from-ivp-at-a-800m-valuation/

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maneesh
Does anyone here have any idea how snapchat intends to make money? Or will it
try to sell itself to Facebook/Google eventually a la Instagram?

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onedev
Unfortunately they are not and will not be the "next Instagram" with their
current product offering (in my humble opinion). They don't even come close to
having the same kind of value or value potential that Instagram (the product)
did when it was bought. It's also very difficult to monetize a product like
Snapchat just by its very nature (of destructible media). Now of course I
could be wrong about all of this, and if so, feel free to enlighten me.

I think what's more plausible is the possibility that the extra money is going
towards more long term plans and product expansions.

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lobotryas
You don't have to create a monetization strategy and show profitability in
order to be acquired. If you build a large enough audience (ex: 10m registered
users, 1m dailies) then someone is likely to buy you just to get access to
this tasty slice of pie.

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onedev
Right, I agree with you. Instagram didn't do that, but again there were a
number of things someone can do with Instagram to monetize it and that much
was clear from the beginning. With Snapchat, it's less clear how someone could
monetize it's userbase.

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bobbles
See all snapchats ever sent to you for only $4.99! Monetization in the bag

