Slack’s flagship software is essentially a productivity tool that saves time and helps streamline workflow and enhance more collaborative team effort. Jaluria, a long-time software analyst, says in his years of covering the software sector he has not seen companies with as much buzz as Slack. Everyone he knows — clients, friends, workmates, relatives — is either using Slack or looking to use it.
SINGAPORE (June 17): In March last year, music streaming giant Spotify launched an unusual direct public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, as opposed to the IPO route most companies take. Messaging software firm Slack will take a page out of Spotify’s book for a similar path on June 20. “Companies like Slack that don’t need to raise any money are taking the cheapest, most efficient way to list their shares,” Rishi Jaluria, software analyst for DA Davidson in Portland, Oregon, told The Edge Singapore in a recent interview.
Like Spotify, which has a huge mindshare alongside its hefty market share in streaming music, Slack has a cult-like following and is increasingly the go-to messaging platform for companies large and small. It has deftly used a combination of freemium offerings and word-of-mouth promotions to boost sales. If you are an executive who is inundated with corporate email and work in a collaborative environment as part of a team, particularly in the technology sector, chances are that you already use Slack. “I have cut my emails down substantially since we started using Slack,” says Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management in New York.
