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15. Slide

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Estimated Value: $500 million

Business:
A social-networking apps developer focusing on picture slideshows and photo albums, with a heavy presence on Facebook and other social networks.

Location:
San Francisco, California

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More Info: Slide

CEO: Max Levchin

Investors:
Mayfield Fund, Blue Run Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund

Analysis:
Slide's recent $550 million post-money valuation has been the subject of much ridicule among the Twitterati. In this story, T. Rowe Price and other rumored cross-over buyers play the role of greater fool. The criticism? Sure, Slide has a lot of users, but its apps are unmonetizable.

Have a little imagination. Slide controls screen real-estate viewed by tens of millions of users a day. Is each user worth as much as a Google user? No. But they're worth something, and Slide has a boatload of them (over 150 million registered users).

Importantly, Slide has also diversified its distribution: It's no longer just a Facebook-only platform. And its usage doesn't rely on the whimsical Facebook app of the week or the ability to buy hot new app developers at bargain-basement prices: On the contrary, Slide has built a suite of apps that should be perennially popular among social-networking users.

Our understanding is that Slide has just begin to demonstrate meaningful revenue and is currently booking a couple million of dollars a month. Assuming strong growth, this would put 2008 revenue in the neighborhood of, say, $25 million. We apply a 20X revenue multiple (not sustainable, but this should be a high-margin business) and haircut the valuation modestly from the post-money value of the last round to account for the recent market downturn. Thus, we estimate that Slide is worth about $500 million.

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