Slack: Why is this loss-making tech firm worth $20bn?

Found on BBC News on Sunday, 23 June 2019
Browse Various

That values the Silicon Valley-based business at $20bn, not bad for a messaging app that was only publicly released in 2014 and has never turned a profit.

The biggest corporate customers pay at least $100,000 (£78,570) a year for the service. But Slack has never made a profit. Although revenue rose 80% to $400m in 2018, losses were $144m.

Slack may not be an email killer. It may, however, offer an answer to the stress of email overload.

It's not. It's just another tool for another niche; and there are competitors like Mattermost which you can self-host to keep the data of your company in your company. It has absolutely no potential at all to even remotely replace email, because you need an account with the repicient's channel. So instead of using a single emailaccount to contact others, you'd have to manage dozens, or even hundreds of accounts.