Snapchat’s evolution from sexting app to advertising darling, and how its record IPO will affect its ad business

Snapchat’s humble beginnings as ‘that sexting app’ are starting to look like ancient history now that its parent company Snap Inc has successfully engineered what is the biggest initial public offering for a technology company since Alibaba. Where other online giants have seemed to race toward the stock market, Snap’s path has been far more measured for fear of it killing the golden goose that has been laying the eggs – its ephemerality.
The notoriously secretive co