GitHub has been a hit with developers and investors, but the company lost $66 million in the first three quarters of the year, according to an income statement. The company says it has 18 million users, but it has faced pressure from competitors and has seen its personnel costs grow this fiscal year.
Though the name GitHub is practically unknown outside technology circles, coders around the world have embraced the software. The startup operates a sort of Google Docs for programmers, giving them a place to store, share and collaborate on their work. But GitHub Inc. is losing money through profligate spending and has stood by as new entrants emerged in a software category it essentially gave birth to, according to people familiar with the business and financial paperwork reviewed by Bloomberg.
Wanstrath started GitHub with three friends during the recession of 2008 and bootstrapped the business for four years. They encouraged employees to work remotely, which forced the team to adopt GitHub’s tools for their own projects and had the added benefit of saving money on office space. GitHub quickly became essential to the code-writing process at technology companies of all sizes and gave birth to a new generation of programmers by hosting their open-source code for free.
Bloomberg (12/15)
