Episode 32: The Snap Inc. IPO

Snap! Acquired is live on the scene reporting from the "Super
Bowl" of 2017 tech events: Snap Inc's hugely anticipated (and
just plain huge) IPO. What does the future hold for this plucky
“camera company”? Will Snap's IPO endure as tech's most important
picture-frame since the  2012 debut of Facebook, or is it
destined to fade as just another snapshot? We debate! 


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Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry

Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25






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Topics covered include: 

Reference to our previous Acquired episode on Snap covering
Facebook’s failed attempt to acquire the company in 2013, which
goes deep on Snap’s origins and early history

Snap’s busy years since: launching Discover,  Lenses,
 Geofilters,  new Chat,  Memories, an  ads
API, acquiring Bitmoji, and, of course,  debuting Spectacles

The incredible document that is  Snap's S-1 filing (read
starting from the  “BUSINESS” section on p.93)

Snap Inc’s “unique” voting structure

Evan Spiegel’s “CEO Award” bonus for successfully completing
an IPO: an extra 3.0% of the company worth more than $600M

Snap’s IPO pricing, first day of trading “pop”, and momentum
carried into day two 

Introducing a new show section (for IPOs): Narratives!  

Snap  is a “camera company"

Snap's opportunity is  winning television ad dollars

Snap is a cult of the “product genius”

Snap has a growth problem… and its name is Instagram
(Stories)

Snap has a cost problem: the (first?)  gross margin
negative IPO

Wall Street to Evan: “we trust you… for now"



Chris Sacca’s biggest email fail of 2012

…And of course all the classics from the Acquired canon:
waves, moats, flywheels, network effects, starting small and
more! 



  The Carve Out: 


Ben:  The Bill Simmons Podcast with Ben Thompson

David: The Art of War, also Evan Spiegel’s Carve Out for 2013
:)