+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Marc Andreessen Just Suggested That Snapchat Could Become A $100 Billion Company

Jan 4, 2014, 00:47 IST

APMarc Andreessen

When Snapchat reportedly turned down a $3 billion offer from Facebook, the knee jerk reaction from a lot of people was, "Are the crazy?!?"

Advertisement

It's a lot of money to pass on. But, according to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Snapchat has an opportunity to build something much bigger, much more valuable.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Andreessen was asked about Snapchat's future as a business. Here's his answer:

Complimentary Tech Event
Transform talent with learning that works
Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

"The bull case on Snapchat is that there's a company in China called Tencent that's worth $100 billion. And Tencent is worth $100 billion because it takes its messaging services on a smartphone and then wraps them in a wide range of services-things like gaming and social networking and emojis, and video chat-and then charges for all these add-on services. And it has been one of the most successful technology companies of all time and is worth literally $100 billion on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Maybe that's [CEO Evan Spiegel's] plan. Maybe Evan's plan is to transplant the Tencent business model into the U.S., which nobody has actually been able to do yet."

Obviously the "if" in here is huge.

Advertisement

But, next time you hear about Snapchat getting some massive valuation, think about this before you dismiss it as crazy. Big businesses based on messaging exist elsewhere in the world.

Investors are starting think it can happen here, too.

Next Article