Dropbox Is Worth $4 billion – Say WHAT?

Dropbox, where did you come from? According to Business Insider’s 2011 Digital 100, the cloud storage business is now the fifth most valuable internet startup in the world (topped only by Facebook, Zynga, Groupon and Twitter) and alleged to be worth $4 billion.

I’m sorry?

There’s no denying Dropbox is useful. Not only is it absurdly easy to use, synchronizing files between pretty much all the platforms and devices you can think of (yes, even Kindle)…it’s also simple, doing something powerful without muddying its functionality with additional bolted-on-features. It’s minimalist, and since the wider geek community loves that kind of thing, it’s turned into a game – How Much of Your Life Can You Hack With Dropbox? (Here are suggestions from Mashable, MakeUseOf, appstorm and Lifehacker).

“But…it’s also free!” screams a little voice in my head. Even if you fill your initial 2GB data allowance, there are plenty of ways to earn extra storage without shelling out for the subscription. The free version allows enough cloud-space to share critical files between your devices as you move around – and I know of a ton of travel people using it.

This is where the people at Dropbox have been really clever. It’s the key to their subscription success – the “first one’s free, mate” model. You use the free version, it earns your trust, you rely on it more and more…and suddenly you’re thinking it’d be the ideal way to back up your photos too. Your needs have scaled up, and it’s got you. And that’s for travellers, individuals counting their pennies – for businesses using Dropbox as a collaborative working environment, a subscription is a piddling no-brainer (if reading about this blunder didn’t scare them off).

So…the 5th wealthiest startup in the world? I can fully believe it.

Using Dropbox yourself? Or do you prefer one of its competitors? And either way, how do you use it?

Images: Johan Larsson and Dropbox.