Amazon is a dark horse that can win the music-streaming wars – Protocol

Of course, such a phenomenon is not unique to the industry. For example, it wasn’t until 2001 that Amazon began posting a profit, seven years after it launched and four years after the IPO. That is perhaps why Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson — a former employee of the ecommerce giant and avid fan of Jeff Bezos — is so bullish on his company’s future. “On the business side, we are performing very well,” he told Protocol. But “now the environment is clearly rewarding profitability.” Twilio is one of a handful of established IT vendors that are stuck in the enterprise doldrums. Not yet profitable, but working towards it, the company posted 48% year-over-year revenue growth last quarter. Many analysts remain bullish on the opportunity ahead, given Twilio’s prevalence among developers and expansion into first-party data. Still, its stock is down 69% this year. That’s not only bad news for investors. Employees who have their compensation tied to Twilio’s share performance might also be feeling a little grumpy. But Lawson remains hesitant to pursue any option that could further dilute Twilio’s stock or put the company in a position where it is constantly reacting to Wall Street’s wild fluctuations. In other…
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