Even simpler: it's fraud and they got caught. Hopefully it doesn't paint other great IPOs in a bad light.
Now obviously, in this case, it was too blatant and stunk bad enough that even retail investors shied away.
Retail investors shying away had nothing to do with the IPO getting pulled. And even if this wasn't the case it's still not fraud: if retail investors have all the data (which they did) but still want to buy something, it's not deception.
Not "fraud" in technical sense; more like "generous marketing".
Running an ad of a bunch of thin, attractive people drinking Coke is not fraud. It's also not very accurate either.
Are you thinking of any in particular? Attention toward IPOs (especially on HN) go almost exclusively to bad IPOs. Fair offerings seem to get ignored.
Edit: Peloton is one that comes to mind. Nearly $1 billion in sales, up 40% YoY. Although even they are posting a net loss of a quarter billion.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19465860
Is it not possible that both investors and the public will find the shine off the apple of pairing two independently somewhat unattractive things--a stationary bicycle and a hefty monthly fee--as used models start to hit the secondary market?
Have you ever tried to sell a used stationary bicycle? It ain't easy! The evidence of the gulf between good intentions and regular use is right there.
This is a significant value drop, but not huge given the logistical difficulties of this specific resale market (shipping these things is hard.)
We go in cycles; I use the bike much less frequently in the summer when I ride outside more, and more in the winter. I'm around 300 rides on it, my wife's closer to 100. (I ride more/she runs more).
We bought the treadmill in the spring after she got injured (again) trying to run in short morning daylight hours, or waning evening daylight hours, so we haven't used it as much, but it will definitely get a lot more use as the darkness descends on us again.
We're both pretty active, so I guess maybe we don't represent the average of the addressable market, but maybe we represent more of an average of CURRENT owners.
Peloton could really have a home run, market-wise, if they could sell expensive equipment AND subscriptions that people don't want to let go of because they want to keep thinking of themselves as people who work out. (The same way people keep paying gym memberships because they want to believe they're going to work out more).
Yes, Softbank and others will lose a lot of money, and Neumann made money off them, but they’re all grownups who knew what they were getting into.