新上市科技公司行为准则

错误行为

    如果你对业务和业绩过于乐观，有可能会失去信誉。当今世界没有秘密，甚至可以说是过份透明了。精明的公共投资人都知道，任何业务都不完美，每个企业都有一些不满意的客户，都面临着产品挑战，都存在竞争弱点。现在公共投资人们已经擅于利用调查报告和渠道控制，甚至越来越多地利用社交媒体来发掘细微的信息。你越想掩饰面临的挑战，等到这些问题浮出水面的时候，你对这些问题拥有的解释权就越少。这并不是说，每次你收到一条愤怒的微博声讨的时候，都要写一篇新闻发言稿。只要你持之以恒地对业绩和预期做一份均衡的评估，就能保持良好的信誉。这样一来，以后哪怕是碰到更棘手的问题，你也能更好地掌握局面。

    如果你只关注改善每个季度的业绩，它将对长期业绩造成负面影响。华尔街这个大磨坊会迫使你把业务细化到每一个季度。你不能完全忽视这个框框，但是如果过于关注如何在这90天里达到目标，那就无法实现长期的目标。你必须在内部找到一个平衡，确保公司最优秀的人才把精力放在重要的长期目标上，同时保证公司处于良好的状态，能够实现可预见的短期业绩。

    如果你没把钱花在刀刃上，会引来公共投资人的愤怒声讨。投资人希望他们投资的公司的管理团队在花钱的问题上能谨慎再谨慎，就好像整个公司是他们开的一样。如果你用高得离谱的价格收购了一家创业公司，仅仅是因为它的创意非常火爆和时髦，投资人就会举起黄牌了。比如云基础架构公司VMWare最近收购云计算网络虚拟化公司Nicira的案例就会被投资人批评好几年。如果管理层花的是自家的钱，他们是否还愿意花10亿多美元收购这家新生的公司？并不是说所有的收购都不好。例如在线旅游服务公司Priceline收购订房网站Booking.com就给股东带来了巨大的价值，而且它从一开始就是一笔明智的收购。无论在收购上，还是在业务的所有其它方面，一定要把投资人的钱看成自己的钱，而且要让投资人知道，你衡量每一个决策用的都是这个标准。

    毫无疑问，一个公司上市后，将与私人公司过的日子产生天壤之别。对于上市公司来说，没有放之四海皆准的成功秘诀。但是如果你听取了上面这些建议，将有助于你在商海中稳稳掌舵，乘风破浪。（财富中文网）

    本文作者格林•所罗门是GGV Capital公司的一名合伙人。他最近投资的公司包括Pandora、Successfactors、Isilon, Domo、Square、Zendesk、Quinstreet和Nimble Storage等。

    译者：朴成奎

DON'Ts

    You risk losing credibility if you're overly optimistic about your business and its performance. There are no secrets in today's world -- err on the side of over-transparency. Savvy public investors know that no business is perfect; everyone has unhappy customers, product challenges, and competitive weaknesses. Public investors are adept at digging up very granular information via surveys, channel checks and, increasingly, social media. The more you try to bury challenges you're facing, the less control you'll have over the storyline on these issues when they surface. This doesn't mean you need to issue a press release every time you receive an angry tweet, but by consistently providing a balanced assessment of your performance and prospects, you'll preserve credibility, allowing you to better navigate the tougher issues as they arise.

    Performance will suffer longer term if you solely focus on optimizing quarterly results. The Wall Street treadmill will pressure you into running your business quarter-to-quarter. You can't ignore this framework completely, but you won't achieve your long-term goals if you get overly consumed with hitting your targets in 90 day increments. You need to find balance internally, ensuring your best people are focused on achieving important long term objectives while you've also got a well oiled machine that can churn out predictable near term results.

    Public investors deplore you using their money unwisely. Investors want to feel they're partnering with management teams who run the business as if they owned the whole company. For example, paying an unreasonably high acquisition price for a start-up because it's sexy and in vogue is a yellow flag. As an example, VMWare's (VMW) recent purchase of Nicira will be scrutinized for several years. Would management have acquired this nascent company for over $1 billion if they had to pay for it with their own cash and/or equity? This isn't to say that all M&A is bad. For example, Priceline's (PCLN) acquisition of Booking.com has driven enormous value for shareholders and made sense from the start. In M&A and all other aspects of your business, treat the capital as if it were your own and show your investors this is how you gauge every decision.

    Without doubt, life as a public company will differ greatly from private company days. There is no universal blueprint for success when public, but following these recommendations will help rudder your ship as you navigate the waters.

    Glenn Solomon (@glennsolomon) is a Partner with GGV Capital. Some of his recent investments include Pandora, Successfactors, Isilon, Domo, Square, Zendesk, Quinstreet, and Nimble Storage.