Zoom Video Conferencing: a Bird in a Hand or Some Notes on the Silicon Valley Drawbacks
Why paid copies of a product are more secure than investors of Silicon Valley
In January 2017, Sequoia Capital - one of the biggest venture capital firms in the Silicon Valley - announced an investment of $100 million into Zoom Video Communications. Zoom is one of the best platforms for videoconferencing; it is preferable to its counterparts. A match made in heaven? Possibly, however… The press release states that it is the fourth round of investments for Zoom, and it’s achieved a lot since the last round two years ago. Milestones include: Expanding its customer base to 450,000 companies Surpassing 15 billion annual meeting minutes Exceeding an average of 1 million daily meeting participants Achieving Leader in the 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Conferencing Earning an industry-leading Net Promoter Score of 69 However, nothing is said about the money. What is Zoom’s income flow? Is the company making money or losing? Looking closely at Zoom's payment plans, one can notice that there is no hurry to make this outstanding business-project really profitable. Why charge clients small fees if you can attract the next large investor instead? Is this a conscious strategy or a Silicon Valley drawback? Only time will tell. What can be said now for sure is that if you are not using Zoom, you are losing out. Especially given that their service is free, at the moment. If you already appreciate Zoom, you should consider paying. Even if the bubble bursts, there is a chance that your money will help the project stay afloat.
