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10 Realities Today Cause Startups To Bypass An IPO

Startup Professionals Musings

Today the rate of startups going public (IPO – Initial Public Offering) is up from the dead zone, but is still half the rate back before 2000. In my view, the key reasons that IPOs have lost their luster from an entrepreneur and investor perspective include the following: The US IPO process is still stumbling.

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7 Costs To Consider Before Taking Your Startup Public

Startup Professionals Musings

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to stay low, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. I suspect the exuberance for an IPO is still being driven by the highly visible successes of a few companies several years ago, including Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter.

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Will Your Startup Get Venture Capital or IPO in 2013?

Startup Professionals Musings

Based on the final report for 2012 from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), it may appear that IPOs are back as a viable startup exit strategy. billion from 49 listings, and represented the strongest annual period for IPOs since 2000. Line up a winning team. Timing is critical. Marty Zwilling.

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M&A or IPO?

Reid Hoffman

The fundamental choice that venture-backed entrepreneurs face is simple: M&A or IPO? You’re also going to be valuable and attractive as an IPO candidate. You don’t need to focus on your IPO financial metrics from day one. Later, even closer to the IPO, we had discussions with eBay about acquiring the company.

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6 Due Diligence Goals When Vetting Business Partners

Startup Professionals Musings

Business partners can be co-founders in a startup, multiple owners of an existing business, or a joint venture. As a former startup investor, I was often involved with due diligence on founders, and I felt that founders should do the same on co-founders, as well as investors. Their skills and interests complement yours.

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How Do I Feel About the Snap IPO Given I Didn’t Invest?

Both Sides of the Table

It was a “disappearing text app” where the founders told me that they named the company because the idea came from how Tiger Woods got caught cheating on his wife because all of his mistresses had evidence that he cheated because they saved text messages from him. How Do I Feel About the Snap IPO Given I Didn’t Invest?

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What Does the Post Crash VC Market Look Like?

Both Sides of the Table

What You Can Learn From Public Markets It doesn’t really take a genius to realize that what happens in the public markets will filter back to the private markets because the ultimate exit of these companies is either an IPO or an acquisition (often by a public company whose valuation is fixed daily by the market). What is a VC To Do?