1. Dropbox: “It Just Works”
Chad Graham

2. Overview History Problems/Solutions Competition Strategies
Business Model Canvas
Problems/Solutions
Competition
Strategies
Website overview
Quiz Questions

3. History/Early Strategies
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
Use of Digg to create demand and define specifics of software. Inserting subtle tech references into video and blog materials.(TPS reports from office space)
Initial market segment- innovators and early adopters were catered to with tech support and freemium model
Y Combinator= investor summit

4. 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
Sequoia Capital in Menlo Park

5. Risk-Reduction: Reliable Backup
Business Model Canvas
Freemium Model
Simplicity
Risk-Reduction: Reliable Backup

6. Problems/ Solutions 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
-Growth Strategy- From Partnering(failures) to Organic (WOM)
-Referral (250mb on top of 2gb original for both parties)

7. Competition
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

8. Current Strategies Beginning to focus on business customers Partnering
Space, Security, Support, Controls
Partnering
Acquiring startups in related fields
Photo sharing app- Carousel
“smile score”
Spotify is a new big business customer

9. Tracking Metrics- AARRR
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

10. Website Started with intro video Simple design Personal feel- language
Easy to navigate and understand
Intro Page- Directs to sign up
Tutorial “book”- to understand process and offerings
Support pages- to find jobs, pricing, updates, blog, social media, legal

11. HQ

12. Who was Dropbox’s initial target market?
Quiz
Who was Dropbox’s initial target market?
Colleges
Individuals/ Tech enthusiasts
IT departments
Government offices
Which of the following would you NOT see on a list of value propositions for Dropbox?
Security
Simplicity
Complexity
In what year was Dropbox founded?
2001
2004
2007
2012

13. Works Cited
"Dropbox's Business Model Canvas." soundofmine. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May < 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 Web. 15 May < 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 < urbanized-san-francisco-offices/>
"Dropbox." Dropbox. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May
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.

14. Questions?