Economic Papers of Lawrence W. Abrams

Tag: Kevin Chou

  • A Unicorn Startup’s Kiss of Death: Kabam Field

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    Lawrence Abrams
    in

    The year 2016 will be remembered as a year when titillating stories came out about Unicorn excesses — Dropbox’s Chrome Panda sculpture, Hampton Creek’s covert buy-backs of Just Mayo inventory, and Zenefits’ sex in the stairwell. This is a story about Kabam, another fallen Unicorn, and its excesses. More than just descriptive, we analyze its history to…

  • Kabam: An $800 Million Bid That Is Both Lifeline and Death Knell

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    by

    Lawrence Abrams
    in ,

    Kabam (Private:KABAM) is a mobile game startup based in San Francisco that had early success at developing games based on movie IP licensed from major studios like Disney’s Marvel studio, Warner Bros., and Lionsgate. Beginning in 2014, Kabam started timing new releases to coincide with the releases of mega-hit movie sequels like Fast and Furious…

  • Kabam: What Causes A Unicorn To Stop Skating To Where The Puck Is Going

    Kabam: What Causes A Unicorn To Stop Skating To Where The Puck Is Going

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    by

    Lawrence Abrams
    in

    The growth in the numbers of technology startups valued over $1 Billion, so-called unicorns, has abruptly stopped and even reversed. In the last several months, a number of unicorns have seen their valuations marked down by mutual funds. This has been accompanied by a number of titillating articles about frivolous spending — Dropbox’s Chrome Panda sculpture — and debauchery — Zenefits’…

  • Kabam’s Downfall: Talking the Talk

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    by

    Lawrence Abrams
    in ,

    The growth in the numbers of technology startups valued over $1 Billion, so-called unicorns, has abruptly stopped and even reversed. In the last several months, a number of unicorns have seen their valuations marked down by mutual funds. This has been accompanied by a number of titillating articles about frivolous spending — Dropbox’s Chrome Panda sculpture — and debauchery — Zenefits’…

  • Kabam’s IPO Plans Are Kaput

    Kabam’s IPO Plans Are Kaput

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    by

    Lawrence Abrams
    in

    Summary Kabam is a mobile game startup with IPO aspirations and a reportedly $1 billion-plus valuation. In early December, the CEO delayed IPO plans, blaming generally unfavorable conditions for a mobile game company IPO. We show that the real reason for the delay was the disastrous performance of two of three new releases based on…