The LA Times had a nice chat with Lise Buyer (I swear I am not making that up), the former investment banker who helped Google go public in 2004, about the LinkedIn IPO yesterday. If you missed the news, the stock soared in value from its issuing price of $45 to a high of $107 on its first day. As of this writing it’s at around $93 which still means anyone who got in early stands to gain a healthy amount of wealth.
Kinda makes one think back to the days of the tech bubble in the early part of the 21st century. So does this mean that we’re headed for a 90′s flashback of tech company IPOs ballooning in price everyday?
In a word: no.
According to Buyer, “But one company or group of companies do not a bubble make.”
While we won’t see another tech bubble form anytime soon, the success of LinkedIn’s IPO may encourage some other established companies to take the same route down the line.
Q: What does it mean for future Internet IPOs?
A: LinkedIn wanted to get out before Facebook. But I don’t think Facebook is going to change its behavior because of LinkedIn. It will go when it’s good and ready to go. I think that in some boardrooms today people are looking at what happened to LinkedIn and they are saying, “Maybe we can be next.” But that’s a little short-sighted unless you are a high-profile brand consumer Internet company with a couple hundred million dollars in revenue.
Buyer gives the facts straight and tempers any speculative thoughts on what the successful IPO may mean. It’s a good story for LinkedIn (so far) and shows that an IPO may be a palatable goal for a successful, established company.
Read More: Los Angeles Times Tech Blog.
