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Selling an Edtech Business: The PositivePsychology.com Exit
PositivePsychology.com, a mission-driven edtech platform used by 19M+ professionals, was acquired in an 8-figure deal advised by FE International. This case study covers their growth, decision to sell, and the exit process.
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Dropbox Files for US IPO in 2018: Newsletter January 19, 2018
Dropbox submitted a confidential application for their US IPO this week, according to sources familiar with the matter. The unnamed informants disclosed that Dropbox is allegedly looking to list in 1H’18. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are reportedly Global Coordinators on the IPO, with other syndicated bookrunners yet to be announced. Wall Street and other tech companies aspiring to an IPO will be closely analyzing the stock performance of the file-sharing company, as it will likely set an important precedent for other large, profitable SaaS companies trying to list in 2018. Dropbox reached its $10 billion private valuation back in 2014, sparking experts to wonder why they delayed listing for so long and is reportedly currently free cash flow-positive and profitable on an EBITDA basis. Dropbox is the second major tech company to file for an IPO this year, following Spotify’s similarly confidential application to list in early January.
Toyota to Support Alexa in 2018 Models: Newsletter January 12, 2018
Toyota’s big announcement at CES is that they will begin offering Alexa in certain car models starting in late 2018. The car manufacturer said that it will launch Alexa beginning with the Entune 3.0 App Suite and the Lexus Enform App Suite 2.0 vehicle system software updates for select 2018 models without requiring additional hardware to support the virtual assistant. Features from Alexa’s capabilities that will be available in the cars include control of the car’s entertainment system, building to-do lists and smart-home device services like remotely setting the temperature in your home before arrival or opening the garage door. While other car companies like Ford and BMW have announced their intentions to offer Alexa support in coming 2018 models, Toyota is the first to announce specifics of the release.
Trump Criticizes Amazon for Taking USPS Subsidies: Newsletter January 5, 2018
Amazon received criticism from the President this week, who accused the company of taking unjust subsidies from the United States Postal Service. Of the deal between Amazon and the US Postal Service a Bloomberg analyst reported that in 2014, the USPS shipped 40% of the “final mile” of Amazon’s packages to consumers’ homes, for which Amazon pays about half as much as it would through FedEx or UPS. According to Citigroup analysis, it would cost Amazon an average of $1.46 more per package if costs were “fairly allocated,” which has invited critics to say that the giant is using their power to leave the USPS with the raw end of the deal. Indeed, the USPS’s most recent quarter shows a net loss of $2.1 billion, so one can see why offering Amazon deep discounts could be met with criticism.
Google Launches SEO Snippets: Newsletter December 29, 2017
Google has this week announced the addition of educational videos to its Webmaster Tools product. Currently, anyone can post webmaster and SEO questions on its forum or via the Webmaster Central blog, but Google themselves had not been addressing common concerns beyond their FAQ. Now, users can subscribe to their YouTube channel for a video series called “SEO Snippets,” where they will pull questions from their forum to offer instructional videos as a starter guide on topics ranging from 404 errors, how and when crawling works, URL structures, duplicate content, and more.
Congress Passes Tax Bill: Newsletter December 22, 2017
On Wednesday, Congress passed the most significant update to the tax code in over 30 years. While the bill is not expected to be signed into law for several days, some companies like AT&T and Comcast have already announced their plans to grant bonuses to hundreds of thousands of workers, and AT&T has added $1 billion to its 2018 capital expenditure budget. This comes in response to the lowering of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% starting in 2018 under the new bill, among other changes to the business tax code, including a 20% deduction on the first $315,000 of joint income for corporate partnerships.
FCC Repeals Net Neutrality: Newsletter December 15, 2017
Yesterday, the FCC voted to repeal net neutrality regulations that prohibited the blocking of websites by broadband providers and charging for service or certain types of content. The federal government will also no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery in the same way it does today with phone services, i.e. as a utility. This seemingly goes against public opinion survey showing 83% of the U.S. population opposes the decision irrespective of party affiliation. The vote is expected to be appealed in federal court.
UK Treasury Amends Cryptocurrency Laws: Newsletter December 8, 2017
The U.K. treasury announced they would be amending anti-money laundering laws to require bitcoin and other cryptocurrency investors to reveal their identities. Online investing platforms will vet each investor and report suspicious persons to the U.K. authorities in an attempt to limit crime facilitated by crypto-investing. Critics of current bitcoin operations, from Goldman Sachs to JP Morgan execs, are in agreement with the U.K. Treasury’s decision, purporting that allowing investor anonymity can lead to crime, fraud, and breaches in counter-terrorism financial legislation. This follows last week’s order from a San Francisco judge mandating Coinbase to release investor information to the IRS to avoid tax fraud on crypto-investments.
Black Friday Sees Record-Breaking Sales: Newsletter December 1, 2017
This year’s Black Friday saw record-breaking U.S. online sales of $5.03 billion. This record was short lived, however, with reported Cyber Monday sales of $6.59 billion, taking the total for Nov 1 – 27 to $50 billion, up 16.8% YoY. Analysts now believe this may be the first year where online sales during the holiday period break the $100 billion mark in the U.S. China’s Alibaba still holds the e-commerce record for one day of sales during China’s “Singles Day”, at $25.4 billion. Interestingly, the YoY growth in smartphone sales outpaced overall growth levels, hitting $1.59 billion, a 32.2% YoY increase.
FCC Will Only Consider Legal Arguments in Favor of Net Neutrality: Newsletter November 24, 2017
Net neutrality is a big discussion topic this week. At FE International, we feel strongly about keeping net neutrality in place in the US. If you do too, we would encourage you to write in and express legal considerations for not getting rid of net neutrality. The FCC announced this week that despite receiving a record-breaking number of letters from internet users they will only consider letters detailing legal reasoning in favor of keeping net neutrality, and will not take into account letters which merely include opinions on why net neutrality should remain in effect.
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