Snapchat only generated $3.1 million last year
Snapchat's financials for 2014 are out, and they're pretty much as expected.
The 2014 snapshot was obtained by Gawker's Sam Biddle.
Unsurprisingly, Snapchat — which is valued around $20 billion — is far from profitable. Many growing tech startups are in the red, and some even go public before they're profitable.
Uber's financials were recently leaked by Gawker and it too is severely unprofitable which led the company to release a statement: "Shock, horror, Uber makes a loss."
According to financials obtained by Gawker's Sam Biddle, the company lost $128 million last year and only generated $3 million, up presumably from $0 the year prior. The largest expenses, excluding payroll, were $47 million spent on product and $13 million for a line item titled "outside services." Snapchat spends next to nothing on marketing (under $1 million).
The startup didn't try to generate revenue until October 2014, so that $3 million was likely all collected during the last few months of the year. Its Discover product, where advertisers are spending the most dollars on Snapchat, didn't launch until January 2015, so its performance isn't included in this financial snapshot.
A lot of startups struggle to generate much money during early revenue attempts. Pinterest has been particularly slow on the uptake, and its head of partnerships Joanne Bradford just left. Foursquare infamously generated $2 million during its first revenue-generating year. And let's remember Facebook generated $0 from mobile when it went public. Now its mobile revenue is the majority of its business.
That's not to say Snapchat hasn't struggled some on the monetization front. It has had a lot of turnover on its business side, losing key executives like former Instagram chief Emily White as its COO. Advertisers also complained that Snapchat was charging too much money for its largely-teen audience, and the company has since adjusted its rates.
Fortunately, Snapchat is doing a good job of managing its checking account. The startup currently has more than $320 million in cash, according to Biddle's document.
Here's a more detailed of Snapchat's 2014 balance sheet.
Snapchat declined to comment on the report.
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