DropboxGroup 6, Section S2

Group 6 Section S2

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

What is Dropbox? Dropbox, Inc. founded in 2007 by MIT

grads: Drew Houston & Arash Ferdowsi App was released in 2008 Free file hosting service that offers cloud

storage, file synchronization, and client software

Availabel on: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, BlackBerry, and web browsers

Features!Technical innovations which created value for users

Work Anywhere All files saved to

Dropbox are synched to all devices where the app is installed

Lets you get things done no matter where you’re working from

Simplified Sharing Invite people to

any folder in your Dropbox – folder synced straight to their computer

OR Send people links to specific files

Data Backup and Safety

Data is on cloud – independent of personal device

Undo mistakes & Undelete files

In case a platform is unavailable, use the website

Efficient and convenient No need to carry

USBs or to email yourself your essential files

Dropbox reduces bandwidth usage by only syncing the ‘delta’ of the changed file

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

Explosive GrowthThe factors that led to Dropbox’s phenomenal growth

A look at the stats… Revenue hit about $240 million in 2011 1 billion files are saved to Dropbox

every 48 hours Over 100 million users (August 2012) Over 100 employees Installed on 250 million devices Valued at over a billion dollars even by

the most conservative estimates

Dropbox’s “Growth Hacks” Implemented growth hacks to increase

its user-base What’s a growth hack? NO traditional advertising to “buy” each

new customer Acquire customers in ways that scale Cost of acquiring each customer ~ $0 Pay only for the execution of the growth

hack

Signup Driven Homepage

Simple & Clean Layout

Demo Video

Sign up / Sign in

Download Link

Supported Platforms

Easy Sign up Process Only a few simple

steps Sign up on the

desktop – no browser required

Getting started file is put in the Dropbox folder itself

What is Gamification? Use of game-thinking

and game mechanics in non-game contexts in order to engage users and solve problems

Used in applications and processes to improve user engagement, ROI, data quality, timeliness, and learning

Invite a Friend Referrals increased

Dropbox signups by 60% Dropbox makes referrals

easy: via email or a web-link

Incentivized referrals – when a person refers someone, they both get a 500MB increase

Referrals from friends are more trustworthy than an ad ever could be

Social Media Incentivized social

media integration With each Follow on

Twitter, Connect with Facebook or Twitter, Dropbox gives the user a 125MB increase

Usage of such Gamification elements drives user engagement

Dropquest! Contest that makes

users go through different puzzles and scavenger hunts

Those who place in the top 176 get free space and/or free swag

Great way to generate buzz

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

CompetitionAn overview of the other sync/hosting cloud-based apps

Google Drive Can open up to 30 kinds of files right

inside the browser Using OCR text scanning Google scans

the images you upload to drive for text and makes them searchable

SugarSync On just about every platform Lets you micro-manage what you want

to sync Lets you add password protection to

files and folders when sharing them publicly

Apple iCloud Arguably the simplest to use Instant sync works well between iOS

and Lion Benefits from Apple’s ubiquity

worldwide

Microsoft’s SkyDrive Offers 7 GBs of storage right off the bat

– Best in Class Excels at syncing documents created

using Microsoft Office products Creates an experience akin to iCloud but

for Microsoft Products

Box Popular with productivity apps like

QuickOffice Easy to integrate into your workflow Detailed version-tracking, a feed of

every sync and change you've made to a document

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

Agenda

Introduction

Growth

Competition

Sustainability

SustainabilityWhat makes the service sustainable in the long run?

Why is it sustainable? Uses a Freemium business model, where

users are offered a free account with a set storage size and paid subscriptions for accounts with more capacity

Leverages on strong technological background to offer reliable solution to customer

Focusses on ‘winning-over’ users instead of ‘buying’ them out (minimal ad budget, focus on gamification)

Why is it sustainable? Constant innovations and new features:

recently launched a feature to allow users to automatically upload pics/videos from their smartphones, tablet etc. to the cloud

User modifications and customizations: encourages novel utilization of the service and creations of addons for the same

References Schramm, Mike "Dropbox hits 100 million users,

looking for great Dropbox stories", The Unofficial Apple Weblog, 15 Nov 2012

OPSWAT "December 2011 Market Share Report“ Barret, Victoria "Dropbox: The Inside Story Of

Tech's Hottest Startup”, Forbes, 15 Nov 2011 Lacy, Sarah "Dropbox Raising Massive Round at a

$5B-Plus Valuation", TechCrunch, 19 Jul 2011 Surowiekci, James “Innovative Consumption”, The

New Yorker, 16 May 2011 Dropbox, Inc. – Official Website (www.dropbox.com)

Thanks!Lov LoothraNamit AggarwalPrateek ChauhanMeera KohliSachin GuptaTanubhav TyagiSwati Singhal