1995 Acquisition IPO Revenue 
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009
Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. The world of building profitable startups as the primary goal of Venture Capital would end in 1995.
Steve Blank
MARCH 18, 2011
The Golden Age (1970 – 1995): Build a growing business with a consistently profitable track record (after at least 5 quarters,) and go public when it’s time. Dot.com Bubble ( 1995-2000): “ Anything goes” as public markets clamor for ideas, vague promises of future growth, and IPOs happen absent regard for history or profitability.
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Steve Blank
JULY 15, 2010
The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Startup lifecycle in an IPO Market. Until 1995 startups going public typically had a track record of revenue and profits. Netscape’s 1995 IPO changed the rules. Here’s why.
ReadWriteStart
APRIL 2, 2012
IPOs by year, 1980-2011, with pre-IPO last 12-month sales less than (small firms) or greater than (large firms) $50 million (2009 purchasing power). But it could affect one thing right away: the level of buzz and information surrounding young IPOs, which no longer have to keep mum. Number of U.S. Credit: Prof.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 24, 2017
— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Steve Blank
AUGUST 5, 2010
In 1980 Genentech became the first IPO of a venture funded biotech company. One could argue that there’s nothing new here, as Internet distibution models started in 1995. Drive for a repeatable and scalable business model (revenue in Dave McClure’s investment thesis, “ network of scale &# in Union Square’s.).
Both Sides of the Table
MARCH 11, 2011
I thing I’ve learned over the years is that technology purists hate advertising even when it is that revenue stream that truthfully drives much of our industry. In 1995 Netscape IPO’d and browsers started to become more prevalent. He created GoTo.com (later renamed Overture) out of a frustration with search.
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