Yes, a blog post about Twitter. I know they are ten a penny, but then they are a curious case. I’m sure many of you have seen Dragon’s Den; I know I love watching it, partly out of my interest in entrepreneurial business, and partly through a slightly malicious schadenfreude streak. Now in the Den, one of the best ways to alienate the Dragons is to put an unrealistic valuation on your fledgling company.
On Friday it was confirmed by Twitter that they have succeeded in raising a third round of funds from investors obviously keen to jump on the bandwagon and willing to part with what are almost frightening sums of cash. Although not confirmed officially by Twitter, reports suggest that they had managed to secure $100 million (£62m), which would value the firm at $1bn. Read more on the
BBC.
This would be a staggering valuation for a company that has not made any money and has no real plans (at least no openly disclosed plans) of how to do so, just a vague notion that some forms of advertising may be involved. Well, I wish them all the luck in the world because their continued growth in user numbers is impressive, but I have my doubts whether they can survive long term because I do not see enough of a sustainable business model, and it is currently riddled with spam (especially when you search within their “trending topics”). However, the people investing the money ought to have a fair idea of what they are getting into, and maybe Twitter has some exciting developments lined up for us all. Time will tell.
I’d be only too happy to be proved wrong, but I can’t help but hear the Dragons calling in unison: “I’m out!”
