Dropbox is a file storage and collaboration company based in San Francisco. Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi founded it in 2007, and it became a standard reference for freemium growth and for a software company that reached a public listing.
What it is
The service syncs files across devices and lets people share them. Its model is freemium: a basic account includes 2 GB of free space, which referrals can raise to 16 GB, and paid plans add storage. See Freemium and Product-led growth.
History
Wikipedia dates the company to May 2007, when MIT students Houston and Ferdowsi founded it as Evenflow, Inc.; it took the name Dropbox, Inc. in October 2009. Y Combinator funded the start, and the product launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2008. A 6 million dollar Series A led by Sequoia Capital followed in October 2008. Registered users reached one million in April 2009, 100 million in November 2012 and 700 million in 2021.
Dropbox listed on Nasdaq on 23 March 2018, and its shares rose 42 percent on the first day. It carried out layoffs in 2021, 2023 and 2024, citing slowing growth and a need for AI skills in 2023. In May 2026, Houston announced he would step down as chief executive to become executive chairman.
Why it matters to founders
Dropbox is the classic case of a referral program built into the product to drive growth, and of a company that began with a simple answer to a daily annoyance. See Freemium.
Related entries
See Drew Houston, Freemium, Product-led growth and Y Combinator.
Dropbox is part of Distribution and growth.
Sources
Wikipedia entry for Dropbox. Reviewed October 2026.
