IPO Market Has Never Been This Forgiving to Money-Losing Firms

wsj.com

34 points·ilamont··7 comments

And if it is less forgiving then we can probably say good bye to the IPO because it’d Be better to stay private. We’ve regulated away opportunity and so should we be surprised to see inflation in what’s left? Where else are you going to find growth if not in tech?

How many VC-backed startups were profitable before going public? Not many I can think of. Not any, really. That's why they push for growth instead of revenue or perish forbid, profits. It's easier then for the underwriter to create the pitch for potential investors. "Cash flow is negative but just look at those growth rates! Amazon made losses for 15 straight years,too yknow"

For VCs, the IPO is the end, not the means to an end.

Wasn't something like this going on right before the market crashed in 2007/2008?

A lot of things were going on right before the market crashed in 2007/2008.

It's important to count the misses, not just the hits.

Otherwise a portent of the next market crash will be the release of the next iPhone-level consumer device.

"This time is different"

http://archive.is/BivBB

"Stocks of money-losing companies listing in the U.S. soared 36% on average from their IPO price through Thursday. That is better than the 32% return for IPO stocks with earnings and the 9% gain for the S&P 500 index."

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