DocuSign, a company that allows users to sign PDFs electronically, replaced United Airlines in the Nasdaq 100 index this week, a move chock full of symbolism as so-called "stay-at-home stocks" have rallied amid the pandemic.
Shares of DocuSign are up about 120 percent year-to-date, though CEO Dan Springer told Cheddar that he's trying not to think about the stock price as he focuses on broadening the company's portfolio.
"We were off to a great start this year before the pandemic," Spring said. While the effects of COVID-19 recently propelled companies like Zoom and Slack, they also "accelerated" DocuSign's growth trajectory.
To wit: in Q1 of 2019, the company added 3,000 net new customers. In Q1 of 2020, it more than tripled that. DocuSign is also seeing significant growth with its existing customer base, Springer said, pointing to a metric known as "dollar net retention," similar to same-store sales in retail. DocuSign's dollar net retention is up 119 percent this quarter, he said, meaning existing customers are spending nearly 20 percent more on DocuSign products and services.
Springer sees a major growth opportunity in what he calls the "agreement cloud" -- the unsexy, but potentially lucrative business of preparing documents and forms for signature, and then managing them once they're signed.
"That really is the future for this company," Springer said. "It's the next big cloud opportunity."
With its induction into the Nasdaq 100 -- considered a tech industry benchmark -- DocuSign will take its place in the index next to heavyweights like Alphabet, Apple, and Facebook just two years after the company went public.
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Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
