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Re:Elastic files for an IPO by beambot on Wednesday September 05, 2018 @07:24PM (#17922700)
Worth looking at the 40% rule for SaaS: https://www.feld.com/archives/2015/02/rule-40-healthy-saas-c...

The rule states that a "sane" target for annual growth rate + profit margin is 40%. At a 100% YoY growth rate and -33% profit margins, Elastic is sitting at 70% -- making it pretty solid!

Re:Elastic files for an IPO by sonnyblarney on Thursday September 06, 2018 @07:52AM (#17925565)
What is the 40% based on? Because there isn't a hint of justification in that post.

If customer acquisition costs are really high, then they're throwing good money after bad.

All of this talk of 'solid financials' while a company is losing money every quarter and whereupon there's no evidence of profit at the unit level ... is scary, it feels like one of those reddit ico pump-it-up chats.

It's all very highly speculative, is what it is. So let's hope it's a great company, with a solid offer and they manage the growth effectively.

Re:Elastic files for an IPO by silversmith on Thursday September 06, 2018 @12:28AM (#17923869)
You could say that.

You could also say that they are losing money today, and expecting to lose twice as much money next year.

Re:Elastic files for an IPO by greglindahl on Thursday September 06, 2018 @12:52AM (#17923950)
Right. It's the first group who's buying the stock in the IPO, not the second.