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Dropbox Files To Go Public

Posted by BeauHD on from the here-and-now dept.

Ten years after its launch, Dropbox has filed to go public. The cloud storage company has been around since 2007 and has raised more than $600 million in funding. TechCrunch reports: We knew that it had already filed confidentially, but the company has now unveiled its filing, meaning the actual IPO is likely very soon, probably late March. The company says it will be targeting a $500 million fundraise, but this number is usually just a placeholder. The filing shows that Dropbox had $1.1 billion in revenue last year. This compares to $845 million in revenue the year before and $604 million for 2015. The company is not yet profitable, having lost nearly $112 million last year. This shows significantly improved margins when compared to losses of $210 million for 2016 and $326 million for 2015. Dropbox has been cash flow positive since 2016.

41 comments

  1. Well shit. by slacktide · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Saw the headline and thought they were making everyone's private Dropbox files public. Nice jerb editors.

    1. Re:Well shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      It’s called a pun.

    2. Re:Well shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Headline is spot on in a way. After going public, the pressure to grow earnings will be even more intense. Figure on less privacy, more sharing of user file data, and slipshod security. Maybe the outcome of Dropbox going public will be different. Time will tell.

    3. Re:Well shit. by Spy+Handler · · Score: 2

      "Dropbox Files for IPO" would've been a much clearer headline, but the editors wanted to avoid using fancy terms like IPO that children or people with sub-90 IQ wouldn't recognize.

    4. Re:Well shit. by sims+2 · · Score: 1

      Here I thought they were bringing the public folder back.

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    5. Re:Well shit. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Even for me, as a non native english speaker, the headline was pretty clear.

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    6. Re:Well shit. by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      fancy terms like IPO that children or people with sub-90 IQ wouldn't recognize.
      Or non native english speakers with IQ around 150?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    7. Re:Well shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Seriously, that's gotta be one of the most ill-advised headlines I've seen on this site, or anywhere else. Is proofreading no longer a thing?

    8. Re:Well shit. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Doesn't help that Slashdot is still using the antiquated and pointless tradition of capitalising every word in a headline (except for the ones they don't, sometimes, seemingly at random).

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    9. Re:Well shit. by omnichad · · Score: 1

      There is nothing antiquated about it. Just nobody appreciates proper typography anymore and don't know any better. Some things are refined over centuries with careful, gradual tweaks. They will not be erased in an instant by one ignorant generation.

    10. Re:Well shit. by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It iis antiquated, and completely pointless. It serves no purpose, and only ever makes headlines more ambiguous.

      Just nobody appreciates proper typography anymore and don't know any better.

      People do know better, and what's better is simply to capitalise a headline the same way you would capitalise any other text.

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      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 0

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. title by Dthief · · Score: 1, Redundant

    misleading.....thought they were making all files public

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  4. This is why you can't trust the cloud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They randomly do stupid shit like this: suddenly making all your files public.
    How can anyone use these services.

  5. Water supply feces. by az-saguaro · · Score: 4, Funny

    Exactly, just what I thought. I expected an expose on the latest breach of or rogue behavior by an internet company, but instead it is about "Dropbox filing will take company public". Words and grammar make a difference. Btw, nice title.

    1. Re:Water supply feces. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 0

      And me as well! I was thinking how smart I was to have deleted my Dropbox files about six months ago...

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      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re: Water supply feces. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So another company not to use. Companies go public ownership and their products go down the shitter because now you have quarterly plans (not even 5 year ones like planned economy) and you grow by cost cutting.

    3. Re:Water supply feces. by yo303 · · Score: 1

      Uh huh. "Deleted" means marked as non-visible.

    4. Re:Water supply feces. by Pope+Raymond+Lama · · Score: 1

      "Dropbox files do go public" sounds quiteunanbiguous... except that the verb can be read as a noun, and everything is reversed.
      I just wrote some quite bit text mocking on this headline elsewhere as well.

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    5. Re: Water supply feces. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'll eventully overwrite to reuse the drivespace.

    6. Re:Water supply feces. by antdude · · Score: 1

      It was a clickbait. Heh!

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  6. Re:About time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I thought they meant dropbox was hacked and then I did a double take

  7. SOOooo, you dint empty ur Recycle bin... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    *blush*

  8. Re:Condoleezza Rice, surveillance state advocate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dropbox is rotten-to-the-core.

    The company is full of elitist sociopaths who feed off of the misery of others. Their internal HR app maintains a counter on each employee's profile for how long they've been with the company in terms of percentile, "You've been at Dropbox longer than 10.2% of Dropboxers." People are getting fired all of the time, but this just boosts the ego of those who stay.

    The CTO Quentin Clark is a real creep. I've only had one encounter with him, but it was quite disturbing.

  9. Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How can that's "cash flow positive" be losing money?

    1. Re: Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Came here to ask this as well, waiting for useful comments.

    2. Re:Huh? by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      If you take out loans quicker than your payments, that's positive cash flow without making money.

      Selling old assets for exactly what they're worth (what you paid minus depreciation) is cash flow positive and not profitable.

      Selling shares is cash flow positive and not profitable.

      These are just off the top of my head.

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    3. Re:Huh? by AvitarX · · Score: 1

      Oh, I'm stupid, the most likely answer is that they have equipment they own and it's depreciating faster than they bring in money.

      Since depreciation is not a cash event, but is a loss, they can be cash flow positive while losing money.

      In theory this will mean they won't have enough money to pay replace the equipment when it is totally dead.

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      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  10. Beginning of the end by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

    So how's their business model going to change to screw up the service with a profit ethos going on?

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    Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  11. Worse headline. by surfcow · · Score: 0

    Or best. Can't decide.

  12. In other words... by Bohnanza · · Score: 1

    ...they can't figure out a way to make money. Any potentially profitable company is now bought out by private investors.

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    Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.

  13. Re: About time... by slazzy · · Score: 1

    It's happened before.

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  14. Re:About time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can you imagine Chris doing a double take? His fat head turns and half a second later his twelve chins start turning too!

  15. NOT A CLOUD STORAGE COMPANY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They back up all your deleted files, but only for 30 days. So, if you accidentally delete something and don't realize it till after 30 days, it is gone. I will admit that I lost some important files, and I am resentful. What is their stated reasoning? They are not a backup company, but a file synchronization company.

    If you read their company description in the links provided, they describe themselves as an information sharing company.

    1. Re:NOT A CLOUD STORAGE COMPANY by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      If you deleted a file, it must be because you really don't want it around anymore. Storage is cheap, why delete anything unless absolutely necessary?

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      Eat the rich.