Dropbox: “It Just Works”Chad Graham

History◦ Business Model Canvas

Problems/Solutions Competition Strategies Website overview Quiz Questions

Overview

Founded in 2007 Drew Houston (CEO/Founder) and Arash Ferdowski (CTO/Co-Founder)

How it started: Saw need for simple file sharing and collaboration

Received venture capital of $1.2 Million through Y Combinator

Announced Dropbox publically in 2008 at TechCrunch50

History/Early Strategies

Aimed initially at individual/tech users to gain trust and demand of future business customers

Created short demo video and posted on Digg to reach innovators (tech enthusiasts)

Used Beta testing with innovators to refine product before launching

Used Amazon’s Simple Storage Services as cloud platform- allowed for minimal infrastructure investments and ability to scale rapidly

History-Early Strategies

Business Model CanvasFreemium

Model

Simplicity

Risk-Reduction: Reliable Backup

Growing costs for unlimited storage◦ A: Changed offer to 30-day, with unlimited backup

for premium users. Growth strategy

◦ Organic Referral WOM/viral Support-Focused

Problems/ Solutions

Google (Drive/Docs), Microsoft, Sharpcast’s Hummingbird, Yahoo, SkyDrive, box, Apple/ iCloud, bitcasa, BitTorrent - none had touched the “sync” problem at time of launch

Focus on simplicity as differentiator Future competition- Pinterest, Instagram,

Facebook, Twitter/ other social media

Competition

Beginning to focus on business customers◦ Space, Security, Support, Controls

Partnering Acquiring startups in related fields Photo sharing app- Carousel

◦ “smile score”

Current Strategies

Acquisition of landing page visitors

Activation from ‘visitor’ to ‘customer’

Retention of customers Referral by satisfied customers Revenue from customer

Developed by investor Dave McClure

Tracking Metrics- AARRR

Started with intro video Simple design Personal feel- language Easy to navigate and understand

Website

HQ

Quiz Who was Dropbox’s initial target market?

A. CollegesB. Individuals/ Tech enthusiastsC. IT departmentsD. Government offices

Which of the following would you NOT see on a list of value propositions for Dropbox?

A. SecurityB. SimplicityC. Complexity

In what year was Dropbox founded?A. 2001B. 2004C. 2007D. 2012

"Dropbox's Business Model Canvas." soundofmine. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014. <http://soundofmine.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/dropboxs-business-model-canvas/>HBR Article- “It just works”

"Three Brilliant UI Details in Carousel, Dropbox’s New Photo App | Design | WIRED." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 12 Apr. 0014. Web. 15 May 2014. <http://www.wired.com/2014/04/3-ingenious-design-details-in-carousel-dropboxs-new-photo-app/>.

"Inside Dropbox's Urbanized San Francisco Offices - Office Snapshots." Inside Dropbox's Urbanized San Francisco Offices - Office Snapshots. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2014. <http://officesnapshots.com/2013/06/05/inside-dropboxs-urbanized-san-francisco-offices/>

"Dropbox." Dropbox. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2014. https://www.dropbox.com/

Barley, Lauren, Michael Pao, and Thomas R. Eisenmann. "Dropbox: "It Just Works." Harvard Business School Cases (2011): 1. Business Source Premier. Web. 19 May 2014.

Works Cited

Questions?