What is Dropbox?

In this tutorial we are going to learn about the Dropbox. We will also learn the basic concept of the Dropbox and what is Dropbox. What is the use of the Dropbox? We will also learn about the history of the Dropbox and how the Dropbox company have evolved.

The Dropbox is a file hosting service which is run by the Dropbox, Inc., which is a San Francisco, California-based American firm that specializes in personal cloud, cloud storage, file synchronization, and client applications.

Dropbox began as a start-up company formed in 2007 by two MIT students, Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi, with funding provided by seed accelerator Y Combinator.

Dropbox is one of the most valuable start-ups in the United States and the world, with a market capitalization of over US$10 billion. Dropbox has also been criticized in its early stages and has sparked debate on issues such as security breaches and privacy concerns.

The Dropbox has been unavailable in China since 2014 as china banned it for the use of the public of china.

Concept for Dropbox

Dropbox allows us to store all of our files in one place. By making a special folder on the computer of every person. The contents of these directories are uploaded and synchronized to Dropbox's servers as well as other computers and devices on which the user has installed Dropbox.

Dropbox operates on a freemium business model, in which users can sign up for a free account with a limited storage capacity, with optional paid subscriptions providing additional storage and features. Any Dropbox Basic consumer gets 2 GB of free storage space when they sign up. Dropbox Plus subscribers get 2 TB of storage space in addition to other benefits.

Dropbox is available on a variety of platforms, including Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS, and Linux, as well as mobile apps for smartphones and tablets.

History of Dropbox

When Dropbox creator Drew Houston was a student at MIT, he was constantly forgetting his USB flash drive, so he came up with the idea for Dropbox. At first, he created it for his own use, but he soon realized that those with similar problems might profit from it as well.

Houston formed Evenflow, Inc., which is also the company behind Dropbox, in May 2007 and obtained Y Combinator seed funding shortly after, which proved to be critical at the time.

Dropbox, Inc. was renamed Evenflow, Inc. in October 2009.

User growth

Dropbox's user base grew steadily and predictably after it was established and launched. In April 2009, it surpassed one million registered users, rising to two million in September and three million in November.

It now has over 50 million users. In October 2011, the arena saw a steady and reasonable growth of $100 million in November 2012, $200 million in November 2013, $400 million in June 2015, and $500 million in March 2016.

Acquisitions

TapEngage was purchased by Dropbox in July 2012. Dropbox purchased Bubbli in May 2014, a product that was designed to incorporate 3D technology into 2D views in novel ways.

In January 2015, Dropbox purchased CloudOn, a company that provides mobile document editing and creation tools.

Dropbox purchased Loom in April 2014. (which basically would be shut down and merged with the then recently and newly announced Carousel company).

Dropbox most recently acquired HelloSign, an e-signature company, in January 2019, which was the company's largest acquisition to that point.

Platforms

Dropbox has computer applications for all of the platforms listed above, including Microsoft, Apple, and Tablets. It also comes with a website interface.

In July 2014, Dropbox introduced 'streaming sync' for its device applications. For larger files, streaming sync has a supercharged synchronization speed.

Dropbox then announced the availability of "Universal 2nd Factor" USB security keys in August 2015, providing two-factor authentication for logging into its services while also improving the security factors.

Dropbox Financials

The first funding for the Dropbox was given by seed accelerator Y Combinator.

Dropbox was targeting and seeking to raise between US dollar 200 and US dollat300 million in July 2011, according to TechCrunch, and had a valuation and desire to raise between US dollar 200 and US dollat300 million "to end up in the $5 billion to $10 billion range, a significant increase over its previous funding rounds, which totaled just $7.2 million. "According to a Forbes article, Dropbox's revenues were on target to hit $240 million in 2011.

Dropbox announced in April 2012 that individual investors Bono and The Edge, members of the Irish rock band U2, were among the company's investors.

Dropbox received a US$600 million credit line from Bloomberg in March 2017, with the company preparing to file for its initial public offering "as soon as this year" (IPO).

Dropbox filed for an initial public offering (IPO) in February 2018 to be listed on Nasdaq.

As of May 2018, Dropbox had never been profitable, but had still posted positive cash flow.

Business model of Dropbox

Dropbox operates on a freemium business model, with users receiving a free account with a pre-determined storage size and the option of paying for additional features. As a result, The revenue of Dropbox's is determined by how many users the Dropbox can convert to paid services and they are happy paying for it even when some other companies provide it for free.