Chad Graham

 History
◦ Business Model Canvas
 Problems/Solutions
 Competition
 Strategies
 Website overview
 Quiz Questions
 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
 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
Freemium 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
 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
 Beginning to focus on business customers
◦ Space, Security, Support, Controls
 Partnering
 Acquiring startups in related fields
 Photo sharing app- Carousel
◦ “smile score”
 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
 Started with intro video
 Simple design
 Personal feel- language
 Easy to navigate and understand
Quiz
 Who was Dropbox’s initial target market?
A. Colleges
B. Individuals/ Tech enthusiasts
C. IT departments
D. Government offices
 Which of the following would you NOT see on a
list of value propositions for Dropbox?
A. Security
B. Simplicity
C. Complexity
 In what year was Dropbox founded?
A. 2001
B. 2004
C. 2007
D. 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.