Squarespace, a well-known software-and-hosting provider for SMB websites, has released its S-1 filing. The company is pursuing a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE. It will trade under the ticker symbol “SQSP.” TechCrunch has the story.

The company’s financial results paint the picture of a rapidly growing company that has a history of profitability.

Squarespace also has listed financial results that are inclusive of some share conversions, among other matters. Its pro forma results presume that “all shares of our convertible preferred stock had automatically converted” into different types of common stock. The pro forma results are also inclusive of a private placement, and its recent acquisition of Tock.

It will take some time to unspool that particular knot. For now we’ll stick to Squarespace’s historical results through 2020 without those accoutrements; if you intend to buy shares in the company, you’ll want to understand the more complicated math. For now let’s focus on Squarespace’s own metrics.

In 2019, Squarespace generated revenues of $484.8 million, leading to gross profit of $402.8 million, operating income of $61.3 million and net income of $58.2 million. In 2020 those numbers changed to revenues of $621.1 million, gross profit of $522.8 million, operating income of $40.2 million and net income of $30.6 million.

Squarespace’s revenue grew just over 28% in 2020, compared to 2019.

For reference, its pro forma results for 2020 include a modest revenue gain to $644.2 million, gross profit of $530.5 million, an operating loss of $246.4 million and a net loss of $267.7 million.

Squarespace has a history of cash generation, including operating cash flow of $102.3 million in 2019 and $150.0 million in 2020. The company’s cash flow data explains why Squarespace is not pursuing a traditional IPO. As Squarespace can self-fund, it does not need to sell shares in its public debut.

Turning to Squarespace-specific metrics, the company’s “unique subscriptions” rose from 2.984 million in 2019 to 3.656 million in 2020. Its annual recurring revenue (ARR) rose from $549.2 million to $705.5 million in 2020.

Squarespace’s ARR grew around 28.5% in 2020, a faster pace of expansion than its GAAP revenues.

Per the company’s SEC filing, the company “completed its estimate of the fair value of its Class A common stock for financial reporting purposes as a weighted-average $63.70 per share for shares granted prior to March 11, 2021.” That should help form a reference price measuring stick for now.

Now, who owns the company? Major shareholders include the company’s founder and CEO Anthony Casalena, who owns just around 76% of the company’s Class B shares, or 49,086,410 total units. Accel has 15,514,196 Class A shares. General Atlantic has 22,361,073 Class A shares and 4,958,345 Class B shares, while Index Ventures has 19,460,619 of the Class A equity.

The majority of voting power rests with the company’s CEO, with 68.2% control. Public market investors will have to vet how much they like having zero say in the company’s future direction.

Regardless, this is going to be a fascinating debut, adding to the number of companies defying the pandemic to go public.

Ask several people to describe a monster and you will get the same answer from all of them. To all these people – young, old, male, female, rich, or poor – monsters are ugly, malformed, heinous, and, above all, wicked. You might meet people that believe some monsters are friendly, but they will also be quick to tell you how ruthless they are to their ‘enemies’. In other words, monsters are always out to harm those different from them.

The last sentence of the paragraph above tells you that monsters are not just aliens with green eyes and spear-like teeth but also humans, like you and I, who have no qualms hurting their fellow human beings. Monsters are people whose presence causes stress and anxiety to others because of what they are capable of doing. They are demons in human forms. Put simply, any person that inflicts pains of any kind or harms others is a monster.

Recently, a pensioner’s life savings was wiped off by fraudsters. The old man was crying in the bank when a younger man saw him and decided to help out as much he could. This young man solicited help from internet users for the poor man and people responded to the call. But what if this old man doesn’t recover from this shock? How come these fraudsters did not pity this old man when they took away his money, his only means of livelihood? This act of wickedness can only be done by someone that lacks the heart of a human being. Those fraudsters, and other criminals, are examples of monsters.

What about those spouses that subject their partners to pains, humiliations, and fear? Stories of men that beat their wives even to death reach us every now and then. I watched a video, where a man that was beating his wife picked up the electric iron in the room and hit her with it. All this while, the children were screaming in the background and the woman was begging for her life, but this continued with his monstrous act. Could that man be referred to as a human being or a monster? What is it about him that is human?

Let’s talk about the oppressors of the weak and the defenceless; those that oppress orphans, widows, the poor, and the disadvantaged. There is a current Nigerian politician that specialises in land grabbing. Once he sees a piece of land that catches his fancy, he grabs it and builds an estate there without batting an eyelid or compensating the owner. No one could question or stop him. Who would even dare do that when he has thugs working for him? I heard he has a lot of cases concerning this land grabbing of a thing in the court but the only people that could dare sue him are those that have the means. But let’s leave this politician’s case and focus on those that grab lands from their brother’s widows because he had no son or his son is still too young to challenge to fight for his right? What about the people that turned their domestic staff into something lower than their dogs? Should we talk about those that rub people’s disadvantaged position on their faces? Well, if you happen to cause pain, stress, and anxiety to someone else, know it now that you have been defined as a monster.

Homewreckers still belong to a special category of monsters. A group of young Nigerians recently recounted their experiences in the hands of religious leaders, who told their families they were witches, wizards, marine spirits, and the rest of them. One of them said his brother is currently wasting away as a drug addict because a ‘man of god’ told his mother that he, the storyteller, and his younger brother were the reason her marriage didn’t work out. The woman turned her frustration and anger on these young boys and ended up wrecking the life of one. What should we say of this so-called man of god (sorry, he is NOT of God)? Is he not a monster?

Of course, I can never leave here without calling on bad bosses. Some time ago, a young lady recounted how her boss slapped and beat her in the office because she failed to buy food for him with her money. This might sound outrageous but many workers pass through a lot in their places of work. But that aside, there are employers, who do not want their workers to progress. I worked in a place where you are not allowed to go for further studies even if it is an evening or weekend programme. The school’s policy was that you should resign if you want to go back to school. Some colleagues that ignored that rule and enrolled in weekend programmes, which did not disturb their jobs, were later found out and sacked. I don’t know what to say about these types of bosses but their acts are monstrous. Many of us fell under this category and should, therefore, endeavour to amend our ways.

Planning to give your website a makeover? Or have you just launched a new business and want to get your website up and running? Are your clients complaining about slow load time, frequent error messages and boring content?

If the answer to any of those questions is Yes, that’s just the start of your journey.

So what’s the big deal about a website? Didn’t people run businesses all this while without the benefit of one?

Of course they did. But you could do that quite comfortably up to a decade ago. Today, not having a website, or worse, having a poor one can cost you clients, reputation and money.

Take a glance at the numbers:

• According to March 2021 statistics, there are more than 100 million websites currently in the US
• That’s the number of websites yours has to compete with, and we’re only talking about America
• Users on average take just about 0.05 seconds to judge your website and more than 90% of people’s initial impressions are based on the site design
• A major chunk of a site’s appeal is design-based
• Poor user experience (UX) drives 80% of customers to a competitor’s website
• If your website is mobile-enabled and has responsive design, many previously dissatisfied customers will return
• More than 80% of users expect websites to load in less than 3 seconds
• Slow loading times can lead to revenue losses of more than $2billion
• Pages with videos lead to more than 80% of users spending more time on the website
• Personalized content entices 34% of visitors to make unplanned purchases

Keeping these facts and figures in mind, it’s crucial that you hire the best web design services in Sacramento.

Finding The Best Web Design Service

If you’ve already worked with a web design service, that gives you an edge. Working with design professionals who know you and your business provides a degree of ease and comfort.

You would also be familiar with their working style, capabilities and design philosophy.

That’s a great place to start. WHY this project is important is a question to ask yourself.

You want it to:

• Generate more business and expand your customer base
• Reflect changes in your business such as expansion, mergers, acquisitions, new product lines, fresh talent, and more.
• Sync with your other marketing and automation tools, CRM
• Manage payment gateways and e-commerce functions
• Enable personalization and enrich customer engagement
• Provide your contact details

This brings us to the big question about finding the best design professional to leverage the full power of your website. You want to make it a truly eye-catching, informative, educative, original and memorable experience for visitors to engage with you and your brand.

First off, let’s look at WHERE to find the best website designer:

You can find them via recommendations from trusted friends, family members, co-workers, or your own marketing team. This is one of the best ways to hire, because it provides not just the finished product for your real-time viewing, but also gives you authentic feedback on working style, capability, skills, ethics and pricing.

Another place you can get in touch is via a tendering process if you’re keen on giving the contract to a large design company.

Google and other search engines, job portals, online chat forums, are another rich source of information.

If there’s a website you absolutely love, get in touch with the designer, even if it’s a competitor’s website.

Another aspect is WHICH kind of designer you are looking for.

There are pros and cons in hiring freelancers vs a design studio. Freelancers are a budget option and they could be easier to work with on an individual basis, if they’re able to meet deadlines and not get into cost-overruns. They also have a single point of reference and may not have an office location.

Design agencies are a safer option and they have a diverse, multidisciplinary group on board to tackle different aspects of the project.

WHAT kind of work do you need is the next question to ask yourself before hiring.

Is it a design overhaul, or completely new build? You also need to know if they’ve worked in your sector of industry/business before. This will give you a chance to view their portfolio and judge for yourself. On the other hand, some experts may feel that going with fresh talent is a better idea, because you get a bright, new perspective, unique creativity and out-of-the-box design.

The kind of after-launch support, digital marketing, content sourcing and management, analytics, SEO, promotion of the site they provide. Ask whether it’s a full-service agency and would they offer design, programming and training sessions for your team. Do they pay extra attention to UX?

A vital aspect of choosing the right designer is HOW to judge their expertise.

Take a detailed look at their own website. This should ideally be the best example of their work. It should showcase their tech expertise, design experience, skills, creativity and style. In particular, look for easy navigation, modern aesthetics, responsive design, optimal loading speed, great content, visual appeal, functionality and great UX.

Look at their body of work with an eye to getting a clear understanding of what the end product will look like. Check whether the clients match you in terms of size of business, sector, scale and/or nature of operations.

Check WHOM you’ll be working with. With large design companies, there is a clear division of responsibilities. Ensure that you know whom you will be working with, and what their capabilities are.

Finally, WHEN to launch the project is something you will have to discuss with your entire team. If it’s a design makeover, there could be downtime of your existing website or some functions may not be available. Set up a series of meetings with the design firm and be mindful of how things go.

Check if you and your team are comfortable working with this team. They should also pay attention to your ideas, concepts, goals and aspirations and your own expertise/experience as a business-owner. Remember that this project could extend over several months.