Tag: tech

Did Zendesk Sell and Eventually Go Private?

Yes, Zendesk went private on November 22, 2022. The company was acquired by a consortium of private equity firms led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira in an all-cash transaction that valued the company at approximately $10.2 billion. As part of the deal, Zendesk shareholders received $77.50 per share in cash.

The acquisition was the culmination of months of pressure from activist investor Jana Partners, which had been pushing for Zendesk to go private. Jana had argued that the company was undervalued as a public company and that it would be better off operating as a private company.

The acquisition of Zendesk is a sign of the growing trend of private equity firms acquiring technology companies. In recent years, private equity firms have acquired a number of high-profile technology companies, including GitHub, SurveyMonkey, and Slack.

How Many Shares does Michael Cannon-Brookes own of Atlassian (TEAM)

Michael Cannon-Brookes owns approximately 109.44 million Class B shares and 381,836 Class A shares of Atlassian. This represents approximately 43.08% of Atlassian’s outstanding Class B and Class A ordinary shares, taken together, and approximately 87.91% of the voting power.

In other words, Cannon-Brookes owns about 22% of Atlassian’s total shares, but he has control over about 88% of the company’s voting power. This is because Class B shares have ten times the voting power of Class A shares.

Cannon-Brookes is the co-founder and co-CEO of Atlassian, and he is one of the richest people in Australia. His net worth is estimated to be around $13 billion.

(as at May 2022)

NuBank vs Barclays – is NuBank Overvalued?

NuBank (Nu Holdings) is pushing the banking industry in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.

I have been wanting to invest in NuBank for some time, but I have thought for the past year or so – that their market cap has become so large that they are simply just un-investable at these levels.

To prove this was the case I thought I would do a very simple side by side comparison with a legacy bank that is predominantly in key markets.

MetricNu HoldingsBarclays
Assets Under Management$10.2B$2.3T
Number of Customers30M48M
Revenues$1.2B$25.4B
EBITDA$-78M$9.3B
Countries350
Market Cap$35 billion$28 billion

I know NuBank is in 3 emerging markets – with at least 200 million people in those countries that are currently unbanked. However, even if NuBank was able to have 100 million customers – expand their product lines and then start to really focus on other markets – do you think they can really grow to the AUM or sheer network size of Barclays?

Or is this a perfect short sell position?

Deezer Relaunches Their Automotive App – Listen to Your Music on the Go!

Deezer, the global music streaming platform, today announced the launch of its new automotive app. The app is available in cars with Google built-in and cars with the automotive app store Faurecia Aptoide.

The Deezer automotive app offers a number of features designed to make it easy for drivers and passengers to enjoy their music while on the go. These features include:

  • A personalized Flow of recommendations based on the user’s listening history and preferences.
  • The ability to create and save custom playlists.
  • Voice control so that drivers can keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.
  • The ability to stream music in high quality.

The Deezer automotive app is available now in select markets. To learn more, please visit the Deezer website.

Here’s a more detailed explanation of some of the features of the Deezer automotive app:

  • Personalized Flow: The Personalized Flow is a never-ending mix of music that is tailored to the user’s listening history and preferences. The Flow is updated regularly with new music, so users are always discovering new songs and artists.
  • Custom playlists: Users can create and save custom playlists of their favorite music. This makes it easy to listen to specific genres, moods, or artists.
  • Voice control: The Deezer automotive app can be controlled by voice. This means that drivers can keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel while still enjoying their music.
  • High quality streaming: The Deezer automotive app streams music in high quality. This means that users can enjoy their music in the best possible sound quality.

The Deezer automotive app is a great way for drivers and passengers to enjoy their music on the go. The app offers a number of features that make it easy to find and listen to the music you love.

What is the Story Behind Atlassian and How Did They Go so Long Without having to Raise any Outside Funding?

Atlassian was founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, two students at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The company’s first product was Jira, a project management tool. Jira was originally developed for use by the students at the university, but it quickly gained popularity among other software development teams.

Atlassian bootstrapped the company for its first eight years. This means that they funded the company’s operations with their own money and did not raise any outside funding. This was a risky decision, but it paid off in the long run. Atlassian was able to maintain control of the company and focus on its long-term goals.

There were a few factors that helped Atlassian go so long without raising outside funding. First, the company’s products were well-received by the market. Jira was a valuable tool for software development teams, and it helped Atlassian to generate enough revenue to self-fund. Second, the company’s founders were experienced entrepreneurs who had a clear vision for the company. They were able to manage the company’s finances carefully and to make sure that the company was profitable.

In 2010, Atlassian raised $60 million in venture capital funding (but this was for a secondary round).

Atlassian is now a global company with over 7,000 employees. It is one of the most successful software companies in Australia, and it is a leader in the project management and collaboration software market. The company’s story is an inspiration to entrepreneurs everywhere, and it shows that it is possible to build a successful company without raising outside funding.

Did Atlassian Ever Raise Any Primary Outside Funding

No, Atlassian never raised any primary funding. The company was founded in 2002 by Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, who bootstrapped the company with their own savings. Atlassian went public in 2015, and it has been profitable ever since.

Here are some of the reasons why Atlassian never raised primary funding:

  • The company was founded by two experienced entrepreneurs who had a clear vision for the company.
  • The company’s products were well-received by the market, and they were able to generate enough revenue to self-fund.
  • The company’s founders were reluctant to give up control of the company to outside investors.

Atlassian’s decision to not raise primary funding has been a major factor in its success. The company has been able to maintain its independence and focus on its long-term goals. It has also been able to avoid the dilution of its ownership that often comes with venture capital funding.

What3words – Raising Crowdfunding with one of the Worst Profit and Loss Statements I have Seen in a While

what3words is currently raising funding via crowdfunder – Crowdcube. I have always found What3words quite an interesting concept, so I thought I would dig into their numbers.

On the crowdcube pitch – it states – Over £100M in all-time funding – https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/what3words-2/pitches/lz91xq.

Why is what3words crowdfunding for a target of £1m when they have received over £100m though the company life – marketing purposes only ???

Attached is their P&L for 2022. While they have nearly doubled revenues from 2021 to 2022 – it still seems a giant world away from where they need to be to have raised over £100m in funding. They need to over 10x their current revenues to even get to a breakeven on the current valuation size.

Its going to be very interesting to see if this is possible and if it really solves a giant real world problem!

Browser Based Shazam – Chrome Extension – Identify Songs on Websites

A long time ago I wrote about Shazam and how they stopped producing the software as a Windows app.

Today I have come across the updated Shazam Chrome Extension.

Its available here in the Chrome app store – and already has over 3 million+ users.

No long will you come across a website and hear a track playing in the background and not know who released that track.

Twitter’s cash flow remains negative, Musk says, as ad revenue drops 50%

Elon Musk said on Saturday that Twitter’s cash flow remains negative, due to a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue and a heavy debt load. Musk had previously said that he expected Twitter to reach cash flow positive by June.

“We’re still negative cash flow, due to ~50% drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load,” Musk said in a tweet. “Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.”

Twitter’s advertising revenue has been declining for several quarters. In the first quarter of 2023, advertising revenue fell 19% year-over-year. The decline in advertising revenue is likely due to a number of factors, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, rising inflation, and the increasing popularity of other social media platforms.

Twitter’s debt load is also a major concern. The company has about $13 billion in debt, which it used to finance Musk’s acquisition of the company. Musk has said that he plans to reduce Twitter’s debt load, but it is unclear how he plans to do so.

The combination of negative cash flow and a heavy debt load puts Twitter in a precarious financial position. If Twitter is unable to turn things around, it could be forced to sell itself or file for bankruptcy.

What does this mean for Twitter’s future?

The news that Twitter’s cash flow remains negative is a major setback for the company. It is unclear how Twitter will be able to turn things around, and there is a real risk that the company could be forced to sell itself or file for bankruptcy.

Musk has said that he is committed to turning Twitter around, but it is unclear how he plans to do so. He has proposed a number of changes, including reducing the company’s debt load, making the platform more user-friendly, and cracking down on spam and bots.

However, it is not clear if these changes will be enough to save Twitter. The company is facing a number of challenges, including the decline in advertising revenue, the increasing popularity of other social media platforms, and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

It is too early to say what the future holds for Twitter. However, the news that the company’s cash flow remains negative is a major setback, and it is clear that Twitter is facing some serious challenges.

How Much Money Did Bird Mobility Raise Before Going Public?

Bird Mobility has to be the biggest bomb of Venture Capital in the past 10 years.

The company was founded in 2017 – and raised $2.25 billion in venture capital before going public in June 2021. Since that time it hasn’t really gone to plan in any way – market, valuation, revenues, operations, etc.

At todays date – Bird which is public on the NYSE under the ticker – BRDS – has a Market Cap of $26 million.

It might as well be worthless at this point!

Distrokid Increases Prices by 15% and Don’t Tell Their Customers

Distrokid, one of the leading music distribution services, has recently announced a 15% price increase across all of its plans. This news has come as a surprise to many of its customers, who are now left wondering how this change will impact their music careers.

Distrokid’s previous pricing structure was based on an annual subscription fee, with different plans offering various features and services. With this recent increase, the cost of the basic plan will go up from $19.99 to $22.99, while the Musician Plus plan will increase from $35.99 to $41.49 per year.

Distrokid has cited several reasons for this price increase, including rising overhead costs and the need to invest in new technology and features to stay competitive in the music distribution market. Despite these reasons, some customers are concerned that the price hike will disproportionately impact smaller independent artists and labels.

How Many People Currently Use the Yoast WordPress Plugin

Yoast is a popular search engine optimization (SEO) plugin for WordPress websites. The plugin has been around for over a decade and has gained a large following among WordPress users. But just how many people are currently using the Yoast WordPress plugin?

According to WordPress.org, as of June 2021, the Yoast plugin has been downloaded over 346 million times. This staggering number means that Yoast is the most popular SEO plugin for WordPress by a wide margin.

But downloads don’t necessarily equate to active users. To get a better estimate of the number of people currently using Yoast, we can look at the number of active installations. According to the WordPress plugin repository, there are currently over 5 million active installations of the Yoast plugin.

This number is constantly changing as new users discover the plugin and existing users switch to different SEO tools. However, it’s safe to say that Yoast is a widely used and trusted plugin among WordPress website owners.

So, why is Yoast so popular? The plugin offers a range of features to help website owners optimize their content for search engines. These features include on-page analysis, keyword optimization, XML sitemap creation, and more. Additionally, Yoast is easy to use and offers helpful tutorials and support for users.

In conclusion, the Yoast WordPress plugin is currently being used by over 5 million website owners. Its popularity can be attributed to its user-friendly interface and robust set of SEO features. If you’re looking to improve your website’s search engine rankings, it’s worth considering Yoast as a valuable tool in your SEO arsenal.

Financials and Multiples on the Believe Digital and Sentric Music Publishing Deal

This morning we posted about Believe Digital acquiring Sentric Music Publishing.

I wanted to provide a little more context about the acquisition.

Sentric – Companies House accounts – https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05721428/filing-history

2021 Year End Numbers:

  • £29.5m Revenue (up 57% YOY)
  • £24.2m COGS
  • £4.8m GP (8.5x multiple to value)
  • £1.2m NP (34x multiple to value)

Acquisition price was $51 million.

It feels like this was a good price on both counts. Utopia obviously sold Sentric at a discount, but they really need to get rid of the asset (they only purchased a year ago). Believe got a good asset in a new market – at a reasonable multiple.

Believe Digital Acquires Sentric Music Publishing from Utopia Music for $51 million

Believe Digital has acquired music publishing company Sentric for $51 million from Utopia Music.

This is a great move from Believe – and as Utopia have been in a lot of issues with debt recently – it feels like a bit of a fire sale.

“The acquisition of SENTRIC is the first step for BELIEVE in the roll-out of a global and comprehensive publishing offer. The growth and digital transformation of the songwriters’ market is opening-up many opportunities. We are excited to be able to immediately expand the services we provide to our existing TUNECORE clients with SENTRIC’s best-in-class royalty collection service, while starting to work on future innovative products and services for all of Believe’s songwriters and publishers.”

BELIEVE CEO DENIS LADEGAILLERIE said,

Believe is currently looking for more acquisitions – they normally focus around record labels, but this put Believe into a completely new market with a strong TAM.

Duolingo Working on a Music App – Music Industry Watch This Space!

Duolingo is currently working on a music app.

It turns out that Duolingo (which has over 500 million users – not sure how many are active) – have been working on a music app with a small team for some time.

There is currently a job for a learning scientist who is an “expert in music education who combines both theoretical knowledge of relevant learning science research and hands-on teaching experience”.

The job listing suggests that the app will teach basic concepts in music theory using popular songs and teachers.

This sounds very interest – as it would be a great stepping stone for Duolingo to move into a lot of new and interesting areas of education, with their already massive audience.

via – Techcrunch

Deel 2022 ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) Reaches $295 million

Deel is an amazing HR tool that focuses on global payroll and compliance systems.

In 2021 Deel had $50 million in ARR

In 2022 Deel has just announced they had $295 million in ARR (annual recurring revenue).

This also coincides with Deel announcing that they are now at a $12 billion valuation.

In this past 12 months Deel has announced the launch of Deel HR, US Payroll, and Deel Engage, applications for hiring, managing and paying global workers compliantly.

Deel is going to be a company to watch in the HR space for many years to come and if they are going to be acquired they really need be acquired within the next 24 months – otherwise they are going to be too big!

Quick Snowflake Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Snowflake is a cloud-based data warehousing company that allows businesses to store, analyze, and share data in real-time. The company’s platform is built on top of the cloud infrastructure provided by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. Snowflake is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SNOW.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

Snowflake has a positive free cash flow position, meaning that it generates more cash than it uses in its operations. In the most recent quarter, Snowflake reported a FCF of $56.6 million, up from $20.2 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a 180% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Snowflake to invest in growth initiatives, including expanding its sales and marketing efforts and research and development. The company has also been able to return cash to shareholders through share buybacks.

Snowflake’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue, and the growing demand for cloud-based data warehousing solutions. The company has also benefited from the shift to remote work and digital transformation as more companies turn to Snowflake’s cloud-based data warehousing solutions.

Quick Veeva Systems Company Overview, Its Current Free Cash Flow (FCF) Position and Why It’s Important

Veeva Systems is a cloud-based software company that specializes in providing solutions for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company’s product portfolio includes solutions for customer relationship management, clinical trial management, and regulatory compliance. Veeva is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol VEEV.

One important metric for evaluating a company’s financial health is free cash flow (FCF), which is the amount of cash a company generates after accounting for capital expenditures. FCF is important because it shows a company’s ability to generate cash and pay dividends or make acquisitions.

Veeva Systems has a strong free cash flow position. In the most recent quarter, Veeva reported a FCF of $284.5 million, up from $221.1 million in the same quarter last year. This represents a 28.5% year-over-year growth in FCF.

This strong FCF position has allowed Veeva to make strategic acquisitions and return cash to shareholders through share buybacks and dividend payments. The company has also been able to invest in research and development and expand its product offerings.

Veeva’s financial position has been supported by its subscription-based business model, which provides a steady stream of recurring revenue. The company has also benefited from the growing demand for cloud-based solutions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.