IPO一席谈：半途而废乃上市大忌

    3. 警惕 “婚礼策划师”型投行。上市是一套代价高昂的程序，因此往往会引来许多“服务提供商”，引诱你在任何一个关头都选用“皇家套餐”。正如婚礼策划人员，他们的理由是：反正这种事只有一次，何必在意花多少钱呢？这一逻辑有两大问题：首先，对于马上就要上市的公司来说，随意乱花钱可要不得；第二，“皇家”套餐花的时间更长，拖延整个上市程序，自然会延长“申请-定价期间”。

    4. 各个环节都要聘请专业人士。公司的上市程序需要各种各样专业人才的支持——审计人员、评估公司、薪酬规划公司、外部顾问、承销商顾问、银行家、分析师，甚至是听起来有些怪诞的“印刷者”。你需要精通业务的专业人士，他们与那些“婚礼策划师”不可同日而语。想想《低俗小说》（Pulp Fiction）里哈维•凯特尔饰演的文森•沃尔夫吧，记得他的名言“我专门解决问题”吗？化繁为简才是真本事。

    5. 刻意控制发行股票的规模。许多投行都鼓励公司发行大量股票（参见第三点），这对他们倒是很有好处，但可能会与最大化定价成功率的目标相违背。将股票供应量压低的话，意味着只需要少量需求就能成功发行，发行额度较小，还能减轻所有股东对股权摊薄的忧虑，使他们不至于对发行价太敏感。我重申一次，如果没有计划好定价，就不要提交申请，这里所说的价格涵盖计划发行价区间中的任何水平。

    6. 不要忽视窗口期的珍贵价值。上述四家成功上市的公司都是在非常强劲的上市窗口期提交了申请，因此不费什么力气就走完了程序。在形势一片大好时做好准备是很有价值的，这意味着避开了你刚刚提交申请，全球市场就很不配合地崩盘那种尴尬情形。如果(1)贵公司的财务数据满足上市需求，(2)贵公司条件齐备且已经准备好上市，(3)IPO市场健康，明显出现了窗口期，而你还迟迟不上市，那就意味着你就选择了将来的风险。用Rush乐队主唱兼贝斯手盖迪•李的话来说，“哪怕你选择不作决定，这依然是一种决定。”增长可能会放缓，市场形势可能逆转，新的竞争者也可能会涌现，太早上市显然有风险——但等待太久，错失良机同样不是好主意。

    IPO市场总是会有“撤销”或“延期”上市的公司，市场天性如此。IPO窗口期往往会吸引两种公司——理应上市的公司和那些急于筹资而“需要”上市的公司，后者中有一部分总是会面临找不到足够买单者的窘境，因此，不能把延期或撤销上市看成IPO市场疲软的信号。尽管如此，某些原因导致的推迟可以、也应当避免，如果计划进行IPO，那就要确保企业符合条件、做好必要准备并下定决心坚持到底。如果没有确定发行价的计划，就不要提交S-1申请，提交该申请后长时间的等待可能会带来灾难性的后果。

    比尔•格利是标杆资本风投公司的普通合伙人，他的博客地址是http://abovethecrowd.com。

    译者：小宇

    3. Watch out for "wedding planners." IPO are expensive and as such, they tend to attract "service providers" encouraging you to purchase the "royal package" at every turn. The argument, just as with a wedding, is that you only do this once, and therefore; expense should be of little concern. There are two problems with this logic. First, companies about to be public should not be carelessly wasting money. Second, the "royal" package takes more time and slows things down, and will inherently contribute to extending the pricing-filing window.

    4. Pick experienced professionals in every slot. There are many constituencies that are involved in your IPO process – auditors, valuation firms, compensation firms, external counsel, underwriter's counsel, bankers, analysts, even these whacky constituents known as "printers." You want professionals who know how to get things done, which is very different from the "wedding planners." Think Harvey Keitel as Winston Wolf from Pulp Fiction. "I solve problems." Facilitation is key.

    5. Intentionally target a smaller offering. Many investment banks will encourage larger offerings (see point 3). While this serves them well, it may be at odds with maximizing the probability of a successful pricing. Less supply means less demand is required to pull off a successful offering. A smaller offering also will make all shareholders less sensitive to dilution and therefore pricing. Once again, do not file if you do not plan to price, and this includes all prices in the planned offering range.

    6. Don't disrespect the precious nature of an open window. The four companies above were on file during a very strong IPO window, and as a result had seemingly error-free processes. Being prepared to go when things are good means avoiding the situation where you file, and the global market melts down in your face. If (1) your company has the numbers to be public, (2) your company is ready and prepared to be public, and (3) the IPO market is healthy and the window is clearly open and you still chose to wait to go public than you are accepting the timing risk of the future. To quote Geddy Lee of Rush, "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." Growth can slow, markets can turn, new competitors can show up. Going public too early clearly has risks – but so does waiting too long and missing your opportunity.

    IPO markets will always have "pulled" and "delayed" IPOs. This is simply the nature of the beast. An open IPO window attracts two types of companies – those that should go public, and those that "need" to go public for capital reasons. Portions of the "need" group will always fail to find supporters, and therefore you should not view delays and withdrawals as signs of a weak IPO market. That said, certain delays can and should be avoided. If you are stepping up to the plate for an IPO, be ready, be prepared, and be committed to seeing it through. Don't submit an S-1 if you don't plan to price. Waiting on file for extended periods of time can be catastrophic.

    Bill Gurley is a general partner with venture firm Benchmark Capital. He blogs at Above The Crowd.