According to Biz Stone, one of the founders of Twitter, the microblogging social network could go public to raise funds if necessary.
Despite the fact that, until now, Twitter lacked a source of advertising revenue, it seems imminent that from next year this could change.
“2018 is really going to be the year of the results, I do not know if we’re going to be profitable, but we have a lot of time,” Stone said Monday.
Twitter received revenue in September from investors such as the T. Rowe Price fund and the private equity company Insight Venture Partners, which analysts say paves the way for an eventual initial public offering (IPO).
According to a person familiar with the matter, the new funds amounted to 100 million dollars, which theoretically would value the company in 1,000 million dollars.
Stone told reporters that he did not want to sell the company, but that he would explore alternatives to an initial public offering.
“The issue is that we want to build our own company that lasts a long time, if an IPO is the way to do it, then sure (yes.) We have not ruled out our calendar yet,” he said at an entrepreneurs workshop. .
“We are definitely not interested in selling the company,” he said. “If an IPO is the only way, then surely, but if there is another way that would be fantastic too, maybe a new path will emerge,” he said at the University of Oxford.
Advertising Model and Format
Stone declined to provide details on how he would introduce Twitter advertising next year, but pointed out that it would be different from traditional forms of online advertising, which include image ads and sponsored searches.
“He’s going to love everyone, he’s going to be amazing,” he said when asked about the dangers of his tens of millions of visitors being offended by the decision.
Twitter, which allows people to send 140-character text messages to a group of “followers,” is one of the fastest growing internet companies.
The number of visits to its site reached 44.5 million in June, fifteen times more than a year earlier, according to comScore.
