# Snap, The Perishable Picture Company: Valuing The IPO

1 Opinion February 20, 2017 Bloomberg ![Aswath Damodaran](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/damodaran-article.jpg?itok=BHiqdi8p) By Aswath Damodaran > Snap will not and should not try to be the next Facebook but I also see it as avoiding becoming Twitter Redux.

Toward the end of 2016, Snap (formerly known as Snapchat) became the latest social media company to enter the public market. With 161 million engaged users but little in terms of current revenues and big operating losses, Snap fits the bill as a company with lots of potential but plenty of peril. In this post, I tell my story for Snap and the value that emerges from it. It is, for the most part, an optimistic story of a young company that has found a niche in the crowded social media space.

In my story, Snap will not and should not try to be the next Facebook but I also see it as avoiding becoming Twitter Redux. Tell your own story and make your storyline into a value!

Read full article as published in [*Bloomberg*](http://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/2017/02/21/snap-the-perishable-picture-company-valuing-the-ipo).

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*Aswath Damodaran holds the Kerschner Family Chair in Finance Education and is Professor of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business.*## More Opinions from Aswath Damodaran

- [What It Means for Companies to Act Their Age.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/what-it-means-companies-act-their-age)
- [Navigating the AI Hype Cycle.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/navigating-ai-hype-cycle)
- [ESG Is Beyond Redemption: May It RIP.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/esg-beyond-redemption-may-it-rip)
- [IPO Disclosures Are Ripe for Reform.](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/ipo-disclosures-are-ripe-reform)
- [IPO Disclosure is a Mess — Here’s a Simple Way to Fix It](https://www.stern.nyu.edu/index%2ephp/experience-stern/faculty-research/ipo-disclosure-mess-here-s-simple-way-fix-it)