市场风高浪急难阻土豆网上市

    上周中国互联网视频公司土豆网（Tudou）和前一周云服务公司Carbonite公司成功进行首次公开募股（IPO），好些人不禁向我问起同一个问题：“为什么在如此严酷的市场条件下这类公司还要选择上市？”

    毫无疑问，当前的市场状况非常凶险。极端波动。不确定性无处不在。对美国经济的深深忧虑，以及过去几年间毫无起色的就业市场。投资者们深感紧张。投资者的紧张情绪又造就了艰难的市场环境。

    那么，为什么这些公司仍然要坚持上市呢？过去几个财季中已经上市，目前正在波涛汹涌的海面上奋力前行的公司近况如何？自2010年1月起，包括土豆网在内，共有11家此类公司完成了公开募股，而对它们来说，这段历程实在坎坷。

    对这个问题的简短解答是：上市只是优秀的公司筹集成长资本的一种机制而已。

    公司一旦将大量成长资本注入资产平衡表，就能马上为公开市场投资者建功。对不会出售新股的股票持有者和管理层来说，新股的价格很重要（因为它们会导致股权稀释），但与该公司股票在12-36个月后交易价格如何相比，这就不那么重要了。并且，正像我的合伙人格伦•所罗门最近指出的那样，IPO的短期股价与股票未来的交易情况关系甚微，甚至毫无关系。

    我还记得2008年8月云平台公司Rackspace公司上市的情景（免责声明：我的个人账户已持有Rackspace公司的股票好几年了）。当时所谓的IPO市场根本无从谈起。纯粹是白纸一张，一无所有。实际上，在Rackspace开始上市交易前的一个财季里，没有一家获得风投的公司成功上市，而Rackspace则是2009年3月到2010年5月这12个月间唯一一家获得风投并成功进行IPO的公司。

    Rackspace公司于2008年8月7日正式IPO，上市后股价迅速“败落”【《财富》杂志（Fortune）的用语，不是我的说法】，并一路下挫（读者也许还记得，那年秋天开始，我们经历了史上规模最大的全球性金融危机）。从下图可以看到，这只股票一路跌至4.5美元：

    With last week's IPO by Chinese Internet video company Tudou (TUDO) and the previous week's IPO by Carbonite (CARB), quite a few people have asked me: "Why would a company go public in such a brutal market?"

    It is indeed a very rough market. Extremely volatile. A lot of uncertainty around the world. Huge concerns about the US economy and a lack of any real progress on employment in the last few years. Investors are nervous. Nervous investors make for rough markets.

    So why are companies still going public? And what about the companies that went public in the last few quarters and are now riding some very choppy seas (we've had 11 of our portfolio companies, including Tudou, complete public offerings since January 2010, and it's been a rough ride for many).

    Here's the short answer: Going public is another mechanism for raising growth capital for a good companies.

    A company puts significant growth capital on its balance sheet and is able to begin establishing a track record with public market investors. For existing shareholders and management who aren't selling any shares in the offering, the price of the offering is important (because they incur dilution), but not as important as where the company's stock is trading 12-36 months later. And, as my partner Glenn Solomon recently pointed out, the near-term price of an IPO has little to no correlation with where the stock trades in the future.

    I remember when Rackspace (RAX) went public in August of 2008 (disclaimer: I have owned shares of Rackspace in my personal account for several years). There was no IPO market to speak of at all. Zip/zero/zilch. In fact, not a single venture-backed company had gone public the quarter before Rackspace began trading, and Rackspace ended up being the only venture-backed IPO within the 12-month period between March 2009 and March 2010.

    RAX launched its IPO on August 7th, 2008, promptly "tanked" (Fortune's words, not mine), and kept going down from there (you may recall, we had one of the largest global financial crises in history that fall). As you can see from the chart below, it traded all the way down to $4.50:

    但是，该公司将1.87亿美元注入资产负债表中用于公司成长，并且，凭借其出色的业务基础，它成为了冉冉升起的市场领导者。你从上图中可以看到，Rackspace每一财季都对其股票持有人有所回报，最终，上市仅32个月后，其股价就上涨了约10倍。

    千真万确——在低位购买Rackspace股票的投资者获得了难以置信的回报，甚至在该股IPO时以12.5美元购入股票的投资者也获得了3倍以上的回报（当然，前提是他们一直持有该股票）。过去几个月里，Rackspace的股价略有下挫，但其市值仍然高达40亿美元，并且在托管业务和云计算行业，这家公司仍然是市场公认的业界领导者。公司的员工、管理层和早期的股票持有者都获得了丰厚的回报。

    因此——可以这么回答上述问题：之所以在动荡的市场中上市，因为公司的业务拥有稳固的基础，无论市场状况如何，投资者都会买入，公司能藉IPO此募集到重要的成长资金，转变为上市公司，并开始取得业绩。无须为未来的股价担忧。市场一定会对业绩久经考验的公司给予回报，而管理层、公司员工和股东都将从中获益。

    杰夫•理查兹是风险投资公司GGV Capital的合伙人。

    译者：清远

    But – the company put $187 million on its balance sheet for growth, and it was an emerging market leader with great business fundamentals. As you can see from the chart, RAX delivered for its shareholders quarter after quarter, eventually rising approximately 10X from its lows a mere 32 months later.

    That's right – shareholders who bought RAX at the lows made an unbelievable return, and even those who bought at the IPO price of $12.50 made 3X+ on their money (if they held). RAX has traded down a bit in the past few months, but still sports a $4 billion market cap and is a recognized leader in the hosting and cloud computing industries. Its employees, management and early shareholders have been generously rewarded.

    So – to answer the question: You go public in a choppy market because your business has strong fundamentals that investors will buy into regardless, you raise important growth capital, and begin establishing a track record as a public company. (Don’t???) Worry about the share price down the road. The market typically rewards companies for great performance over time, and management, employees and shareholders benefit.

    Jeff Richards (@jrichlive) is a partner with venture capital firm GGV Capital.