[enjo]

It used to be that investors said "I want a part of the next Compaq". Then it was "the next Google".

What this shows is that investors now want to be a part of the next Instagram or WhatsApp. They are literally throwing away the notion of profitability or monetization. Now the model is to get as popular as possible as quickly as possible. If you win that lottery Facebook or Google will sink BILLIONS of dollars into you.

My bet is these investors are looking at an app that has existed for less than two months and think they are getting in early on the next one of those. I'd love to know what the valuation was (north of $17M at least).

[thisisrobv]

"They are literally throwing away the notion of profitability or monetization."

To be fair Google had no idea how they were going to monetize search for a significant amount of time.

I'd say the pivot is from usefulness / utility to entertainment / novelty.

[qq66]

You realize that WhatsApp has hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue?

[nandemo]

Remember, on HN "I and my friends don't use it" implies "that company can't possibly have revenues". Just look at any thread about Yahoo.

[w1ntermute]

Or Microsoft.

[melvinmt]

The valuation is $50M.