Receptional - 12:31 pm on Sep 18, 2007 (gmt 0)

Privately held Zimbra doesn't disclose its revenue. Ferris estimated Zimbra's annual revenue range between $10 million and $20 million, figures that indicate Yahoo is paying a steep price.

Now - I understand "revenue" to mean "the entire amount of income before any deductions are made"... aka turnover.

This company has 100 employees. Let's say they are employees at $30,000 a pop. My business degree says double the wage bill for a realistic idea of labour related overheads - that's $6 million.

So at best we are estimating income before tax of $14 million and a sale price of $350 million in cash. That's 25 times gross profit!

How on earth do Silicon Valley investors continue to get out of bed in the morning with valuations like that? I just found out I am truly a MULTI MILLIONAIRE...
(...on paper...!)
There has to be something missing in that AP report... like the value of their client mailing list data perhaps?

Dixon.