Quick Bytes – March 2nd: Why Half of 2017 ICOs Failed According to Bitcoin

A look at the most interesting startup and business-related news stories of the week.

Half of 2017 ICOs failed

Quick Byte

Bitcoin.com has concluded in a recent report that over half of last year’s initial coin offerings – startup fundraising tied to new cryptocurrencies – have failed. This isn’t huge given 75% of startups fail – but a decent investor’s business model should take those losses into account whereas the business models around cryptocurrencies aren’t quite so clear. It’s a reminder that this is such a new form of investment and, while many are totally legitimate, it pays to proceed with some serious due diligence.

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Since the ICO boom didn’t really get going until the second half of last year, many of those burnouts happened just a few months after they were floated. Read the Full Article Here

Dropbox goes public

Quick Byte

The much anticipated tech IPO filing has finally been unveiled with the actual IPO is likely to occur in late March. People are watching how the freemium model is going to work in terms of valuation and whether the company will achieve the $10 billion valuation it raised in the private markets. And, of course, there’s Box to use as a comparable, who filed in 2015.

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It’s official, the Dropbox IPO filing is here.

Going public is a huge milestone for Dropbox and has been one of the most anticipated tech IPOs for several years now. The cloud storage company has been around since 2007 and has raised more than $600 million in funding. We knew that it had already filed confidentially, but the company has now unveiled its filing, meaning the actual IPO is likely very soon, probably late March.

The company says it will be targeting a $500 million fundraise, but this number is usually just a placeholder. Read the Full Article Here

Valley of ideas

Quick Byte

In today’s political climate, it’s a good time to remember why Silicon Valley fosters so much innovation. Turns out, the human brain is wired to form ideas as a network of neurons and when the outside world mirrors this as it’s own network – through conversations in workspaces, at events etc – important ideas happen. And while we love the lightbulb moment, a long incubation for ideas is much more common. Check out this TED talk for an in-depth look or this excellent New Yorker article on how America’s ‘Valleys’ contribute to the economy.

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