Twitter, Snapchat and Uber are prime examples of companies that developed new technologies or innovative business models and quickly become household names. And though it might seem like everyone and their grandma is using these businesses, many are not actually making any real money yet, as we’ll show you.

When Twitter announced it was going public in 2013, it was the most hotly-anticipated IPO since Facebook – and many people predicted a similar jump in its stock price. The company was valued at $14.4 billion (£10.9bn) but the launch was a bit of an anti-climax, as shares closed lower than at the start of the day. It would prove to be a sign of things to come.

Since going public, the microblogging platform has hemorrhaged users, money, and investors’ patience. It didn't turn its first annual profit until 2018, five years after its IPO, and its share price dropped to an all-time low of $14.62 (£11.96) in 2016. Things have since improved; in February last year the price rose to a new all-time high of over $77 (£63), driven in part by rocketing revenues. But the stepping down of founder Jack Dorsey in November 2021, as well as Elon Musk's unsuccessful takeover bid earlier this year, have repeatedly shaken investor confidence. The company's share price is currently $44.43 (£36.27). 

Twitter is still a big player on the social media scene with around 396.5 million active users, although it now prefers to report the number of monetisable users on its platform. This refers to users that can see ads, of which there are currently 187 million, according to Backlinko.com. The fact that Twitter can only make money from around half its active users could explain why its profits remain so low, at just $0.636 billion (£0.528bn) last quarter, since the business principally makes money from advertising and data licensing. 

Snap Inc, the makers of instant messaging app Snapchat, went public in February 2017 and was valued at $25 billion (£20bn) by investors in March that year. It was hailed as a triumph for the social media darling of millennials. The image-sharing network became popular for its cutesy filters and, because it deletes your pictures after 24 hours, Snapchat is touted as a game changer, breathing new life into the stale social media industry. But was Snapchat the goose with the golden eggs it was cracked up to be?

In 2015 Snap Inc reported a net loss of $515 million (£400m), and negative cash flow of $678 million (£524m). That Snapchat persuaded investors that it’s worth close to $30 billion (£23bn) with such heavy losses is a feat. By the end of 2016 it had 161 million daily users, already surpassing Twitter, despite having been around for less time. It's a growing company, but the rate of growth is slowing, especially as Facebook and Instagram have launched similar features, like cute filters.

Like Twitter, Snap Inc's main source of revenue comes from advertising on its platform. Companies can sponsor photo filters or publish short videos that play between posts

Uber’s ascent to omnipresence has been meteoric. Since its inception in March 2009, Uber has spread to over 10,000 cities worldwide. Given the company’s penchant for controversy, that’s quite a feat. Between 2009 and 2017 the cab-hailing app raised over $12 billion (£9.3bn) in 15 rounds of investment, before finally launching its long-awaited IPO in 2019.

In the run-up to its IPO, Uber was valued at everything from $75.46 billion (£61.7bn) to a whopping $120 billion (£98.2bn). At this latter price, Uber would reportedly have been worth more than Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and General Motors combined! A surprising figure for a company that at the time was losing around $800 million (£655m) every quarter... 

In a nutshell, Uber rides are cheap because the company subsidises the cost of each trip. Some analysts worried that after its IPO, at which it was finally valued at $75.46 billion (£62.2bn), Uber would be forced to raise prices to reach profitability. This hasn't been the case – and while this might be good news to customers, it's less good for investors. The company still hasn't reached full profitability and recorded losses of $496 million (£408.6bn) last year.

Swedish music streaming service Spotify has been around since 2006, though it’s hard to remember a time when all the world’s music wasn’t available on your smartphone at the touch of a button. Since 2011 Spotify has managed to turn a profit, but its costs have also grown exponentially over the last decade.

The company makes the bulk of its cash from the subscriptions paid by users, but there is a catch in its business model: the more users download or stream music on the platform, the more Spotify needs to pay back to the music industry in the form of royalties and other payments.

Spotify has never published an annual profit, according to Business of Apps. The streaming platform posted a loss of over $40 million (£33m) last year against revenues of $9.9 billion (£8.2bn). Although this represents a huge reduction in losses from 2015, when the company reported net losses of $194 million (£150m), it still means Spotify has a long way to go before its backers can expect dividends...

In 2013, Tumblr was an exciting burgeoning company with a loyal userbase of avid angsty teenagers the world over. It’s a microblogging social network where users post short-format multimedia and blog content. Its acquisition for a cool $1 billion (£824m) was one of CEO Marisa Mayer’s first big moves after taking the reins at Yahoo. It was meant to signal to stakeholders that Yahoo was modernizing and embracing hip in technologies. It was a gamble – one that did not pay off.

It seems as though Mayer and Yahoo grossly overestimated Tumblr’s value. At the time of the acquisition, Quartz estimated Tumblr’s total assets to have been just $353 million (£271m) plus around $114 million (£90m) in liabilities – way under the $1 billion (£824m) Mayer paid for it. But is Tumblr enjoying a renaissance? 

According to a report in The New Yorker, the platform is proving an unexpected hit with Generation Z, who now make up 48% of active users and 61% of new users. Between July last year and February this year the social media's revenues were reportedly up by an impressive 55%, so while profitability isn't around the corner, it might not be as far away as investors once feared. 

Yelp is one of America’s leading ratings and reviews platforms with over 45.9 million unique desktop users and 36.7 million unique mobile users a month. However, Yelp is struggling to convert these visitors into profit. According to Macrotrends, Yelp's profit margin was just 4.32% as of 30 June this year.

Yelp has been valued at $2.61 billion (£2.2bn). The company struggled to even scrape by a profit in the first few quarters after its IPO in 2012. After it started making some money it consistently underperformed or came in at the low end of estimates. 

According to Marketbeat.com, Yelp's projected earnings per share could grow by 41.79% over the next year, taking them from $0.67 (£0.55) to $0.95 (£0.78). But the consensus is that with so many actively-engaged users, it could be doing much better. 

Tesla is one of the most talked-about companies in the world, partly due to the controversy of its CEO Elon Musk. Yet the business – which has been credited with fuelling the electric car revolution in the US – has historically struggled to stay in the black. So when it made its first modest profit of $22 million (£17m) at the end of 2016, the world took notice. 

Indeed, in the third quarter of 2015, Tesla lost a remarkable $230 million (£177m), meaning the small profit reported in Q3 2016 was quite the feat. The company has largely managed to stay profitable since then, but you might be surprised to learn that the lion's share of its profits doesn't actually come from car sales. In fact, if it weren't for a lucrative sideline, Tesla wouldn't be profitable at all...

According to an article published by CNN last year, Tesla has made $3.3 billion (£2.7bn) over the last few years by selling regulatory credits to other car companies. Eleven states require automakers to sell a certain number of electric cars by 2050 – and those that can't meet the targets must make up the shortfall by purchasing regulatory credits from companies that can. Enter EV king Tesla. In 2021 alone, Tesla made $1.6 billion (£1.3bn) from this side hustle against a net income of just $721 million (£595m). In other words, without its sideline in selling credits, the company would be posting a substantial net loss.