So the big news from all the media outlets is that Box has (allegedly) filed for an IPO - I use the term allegedly because under the JOBS act any company with less than $1Bn in annual revenues can file secretly and the only people that know are 1) the Company 2) the SEC and 3) the Underwriters who will be taking them public --- given all the press this has gotten, I'm going to go ahead and assume that it is indeed true (although Box spokespeople have declined to comment).
Like most people, I first heard about Box when their CFO, Dylan Smith, was featured on Season 3 of Millionaire Matchmaker. For those that need a refresher, Patti was really questioning whether Dylan was ready for love - he ends up taking a girl on a ferris wheel - he goes in for a peck (not of the french variety) - Patti yells at him for not being a macho man. Fast forward several years and he's getting ready to (allegedly) take Box public.
The good news is that this company will become yet another "poster boy" for a Silicon Valley success story...
- ~10 Rounds of funding (the latest valuing the company at just around $2 Billion) with VERY smart money backing them
- Great market penetration (especially institutionally) and scaled very quickly - the platform boasts over 20 million users...very impressive
- IPO as an exit
Boom. That's the way you drew up the play, right?
Of course with the good must come some bad...
- Mark Cuban, a.k.a Marky Mark, a.k.a. Cubes, missed out on a HUGE return - long story short, he gave Box $350k seed funding and then got repayed when they did their next round of funding because he didn't believe in their vision - it's OK Mark, you'll get the next one (and by next one I mean my Billion dollar idea coming to the shark tank very soon)
- Box needs to learn to compete with the Investment Banking-friendly datarooms (RR Donnelly, Intralinks, Merrill) - the Ibanks have a TON of business to give away - especially as M&A picks up - but i've yet to notice Box improve on this product offering (I have been pitched multiple times, but their pricing model and features aren't competitive yet)
Regardless, it's a great business model and i'm excited to read the S-1 if/when it comes out.
P.S. Anybody know if Dylan ended up finding true love?
