HowMuchApp

February 20, 2014 7:05 AM

Is there a database of tech companies listing estimated users at time of acquisition and acquisition price? I would like to compare WhatsApp's $/user to many other sales, not just the ones in most news articles like Instagram.
posted by michaelh to Technology (5 answers total)

I don't think you'll find a big list, but you could use Crunchbase to research other deals.
posted by tau_ceti at 7:29 AM on February 20, 2014

I don't know, but this tweet gave me some perspective.
posted by destructive cactus at 7:35 AM on February 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

You can look around the Apptopia marketplace to see what apps go for. Apps for sale usually list the number of users/downloads as the major selling point... just keep in mind some developers are scammmy, meaning the downloads are bogus (bought rather than organic); also, these are obviously just asking prices.
posted by rada at 7:43 AM on February 20, 2014

I understand what you're trying to assess, but I think there are two key factors in the WhatsApp sale: 1) the size of the user base, and 2) the product market. NPR provides more context, including a quote from Zuckerberg: "WhatsApp is on a path to connect 1 billion people. The services that reach that milestone are all incredibly valuable." And here's another NPR article that notes Facebook's attempt to re-capture the youth market, and get more into the mobile market.

See also: the first four years of userbase growth for WhatsApp, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and Skype.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:29 AM on February 24, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks, especially to FLT -- definitely agree that the vector/acceleration means more than the snapshot of popularity at time of purpose. I also wanted to share a compilation someone made of cost per user in acquisitions. It would be nice to see a similar compilation factoring in growth rates.
posted by michaelh at 2:57 PM on February 25, 2014