Zoom Use Case

What this boils down to for me is a fair degree of skepticism about Zoom, but it’s hard to ignore the numbers.

My feeling as well. I’m in Higher Ed (Education Technology) and I’ve used many alternatives to Zoom, and they all seem to work fine - some easier than others, but after one or two times using them, none of them are particularly difficult. Zoom might be easier than the others, but not significantly so, imo. I asked my wife, who works for an US-based company with ~6,700 employees, many of them working/living across the globe. They rely heavily on video conferencing but have not looked at Zoom. They’re using Teams (MS’ answer to Slack?) and don’t have plans to look for alternatives. They’re simply too entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem. Clearly, this is anecdotal, but my guess is that many other companies are in the same boat.

I think Zoom’s numbers are hard to ignore. There’s a strong short term (whatever that is) opportunity, but my hunch is that there is a brick ceiling that they’ll eventually run into. If this is so, then the stock will have to be closely watched. Many on this board are laser focused with small portfolios. They watch the companies carefully and can change direction on a dime. I’d like to get to this point, but for now, I’m not prepared to do so. I’ve learned a LOT from this board (thanks to all) but one of the most important things I’ve learned is to not blindly follow Saul (or others), but to do one’s own due diligence and to understand what kind of investor you are. I hope it’s clear - I’m not saying that Saul or anyone else is going to buy Zoom, but clearly there’s an interest in the company and it’s best to consider all points of view with an IPO like this. This thread has good points as well as counterpoints but I lean towards sitting on the sidelines. Maybe a small “speculative” position? The (lack of) moat and long term outlook make me cautious. What might I be missing, long term outlook-wise? Can Zoom beat or outlast their competitors? Could Slack and Zoom join forces to become a more robust solution? Acquisitions?

My 2¢ and thanks to all on this board!

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Perhaps Zoom is Ace-10 suited. It’s a nice hand. I really want to play it. On the other hand, I can just fold and wait for something better. Or invest in Twilio, which is more like pocket Kings…

I agree that partnerships will be one way Zoom can provide significant differentiation. They are big enough to have leverage, but not aligned with some mega players that would give other companies (potential partners) pause.

I do like Zoom, but I’m probably in the wait and see camp.

–JC

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