Hacker News Reader

Comment by nhangen | Hacker News Reader

How much have they raised so far? According Crunchbase, around 96 million. http://www.crunchbase.com/company/fitbit

This means they need to exit at a 'cool billion' or IPO in order to provide the return their investors are seeking.

I think Fitbit is cool, but 1b for a product that has no demonstrable uniqueness would scare the hell out of me as a founder.

I'd love to know why they went for so much.

View on HN

I agree with your math of $1b + exit. I don't think that's unreasonable. They are probably the current leader in terms of brand/mindshare. Nike's success is so/so on electronic devices so they're formidable but not overly scary. And the market is HUGE when you think of the $$'s being spent to fight obesity in healthcare and stay in shape in fitness. Lastly, anytime you can have this type of intimate relationship with the consumer ("I agree to wear you around and share a lot of personal data with you") the upside is pretty exciting.

My guess? They need more funding to pump out fitbits faster. The flex is about a 6 week back-order to get one right now. Sold out everywhere. Prices is inflated on ebay as well.

If that were the case they should of asked for bank financing. Working capital financing is extremely cheap, and VC equity is at least two orders of magnitude more expensive. Why would anyone want to dilute equity for the company's working capital needs?

1b for a product that has no demonstrable uniqueness

Sometimes marketing is demonstrable uniqueness. Pedometers have been around a long time, it's the whole package that makes Fitbit shine. (I have a Fitbit One and I love it.)

I agree they are swinging for the fences though.

That's a good point. I don't have one, but I do wear a Nike Fuel Band, which I like a lot. My complaint, and we've seen this on Kickstarter, is that anyone can make one of these things.

>> "I think Fitbit is cool, but 1b for a product that has no demonstrable uniqueness would scare the hell out of me as a founder."

True + they're competing against Nike. In fitness. That's a tough big competitor with a lot of resources.

Everyone mentions Nike, but no one says Garmin. Perhaps it's just my background, but I see the influx of phone and phone-connected solutions as eating Garmin's lunch. Their solutions (including wearables) still probably have the edge in precision and battery life ... but Fitbit and the upward growth of pedometers is disruption for them.

Fitbit is a profitable company, they're using the money to expand the company faster.

You say they are not unique, yet cite no competitors. Do you know of any, without googling for it even?

Nike Fuelband and Jawbone

Jawbone has a competing product, and even Samsung Galaxy S4's latest phone includes some of the functionality (ie: a pedometer) people look to Fitbit for.

My anecdotal experiences with GS4 vs my Fitbit One shows the Fitbit One to be superior, but I'm more likely to forget my Fitbit than I am to forget my phone.

iPhone has an app called Moves which is remarkably accurate (http://www.moves-app.com/). I'm getting fairly similar results from my jawbone. I believe the discrepancy is due to the fact that I don't have the phone on me when I'm at home.

Moves eats your battery quite a bit.

Yep, as others have said, Nike Fuelband (I own one, as does my wife), Jawbone, a variety of iOS and Android apps. Tons of new Kickstarter projects, etc.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com