Can they use their early success in sync to bootstrap other products? "Evernote" by Dropbox?
EDIT> This is an honest question, and I'd appreciate informative replies.
But everything new I do is on Google Docs and Spreadsheets, which I love. All my photos now go to Google Photos.
The future seems to be google drive like web apps. Dropbox needs to get into this market. I hope Paper can expand...
I'm not saying acquisitions can't help them grow, but I wanted to make it clear that this stemmed from an acquisition.
Their focus is wholly on owning the file management space, with most profit coming from doing so for enterprises. While the Googles and Apples of the world have found significant success in building entire suites of related products and services (including physical), there are plenty of successful public one-trick pony software companies. Dropbox's key has always been the magical quality of their service, and that's as good a reason to be on the focused-side of the spectrum as any.
My work changed entire email/storage/etc providers almost entirely for the file management system...
[1] https://cdn2.tnwcdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/05...
Sync can still be improved a lot, and I think whoever does it best will be able to take over most of the market. Dropbox's Infinite could potentially do that. https://blogs.dropbox.com/business/2016/04/announcing-projec...
Why shouldn't they IPO, it's basically the last funding round? Even if they were done growing and ready to start paying dividends now, what would be bad about that?
I suspect, as the article implies "there is increasing pressure to go pubic as investors look to cash out.
What features or new products could Dropbox develop with a few hundred million at they couldn't without?
I think the investors just want to cash out. If there was huge throw potential wouldn't they continue to raise VC money?
75% of Dropbox users are located outside the United States. They have invested heavily in expanding their PoPs and in Europe and Asia. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/19/dropbox-announces-massive-...
The last few years Enterprise customers have been a major target.
https://www.recode.net/2014/3/20/11624780/dropbox-zeros-in-o...
https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/16/dropboxs-latest-announceme...
Again S-1 should provide a peek at the rate of adoption. Anecdotally I can share reports of wavering between consumer and enterprise focus.
The strange thing is, that there are still people paying for IPO shares. But as long as they do, why not use it to squeeze the last penny out of the business before starting the next.