30 May 2012
By now, you have likely heard that there was a major stock exchange listing of a company called Facebook recently.
You may have also heard some of the lead-up talk ahead of the IPO. That Facebook will list for between $38-42 per share, valuing the company at over $100 billion - the largest internet company IPO in United States history.
If you are reading this blog (written by an Internet Business Consultant), you will likely have heard that things haven't quite panned out as many would have hoped since Facebook closed its first day on the NASDAQ at $38 due to a late-in-the-day surge by investors - likely by those with most to lose if it finished below its opening value.
After just over a week as a public company, Facebook is now trading at just under $29 per share, knocking billions off its valuation in the process.
As a result, poor Mark Zuckerberg is now no longer on the world's 40 Richest People list. He seems to be feeling it also after a Kosher restaurant owner in Italy reported this week that he failed to tip them after splurging on a $40 lunch with his new wife while on their honeymoon.
Laughs aside about how some of the wealthiest people remain the tightest asses in the world, Facebook's IPO cannot be described as a success. There are many reasons being given for this.
Some experts say it is because the company has not yet worked out how to monetize its gigantic user base of 800 million - people are there to socialize, they say, not to be sold to.
Some say its primary monetization avenue, which is advertising, is unproven - despite Facebook raking in $3 billion in advertising revenue over the last year, large advertisers are unconvinced by its ROI potential and in the immediate lead-up to the IPO, General Motors (GM) pulled its ads from the social network.
Some say Zuckerberg and his inexperience at 28 is worrying for Wall Street - as is his attitude, wearing hoodies to meetings and announcing 'I'm CEO bitch', is not very investable.
Some say the initial valuation expected was simply ridiculous and unrealistic, and it is now simply settling at where it should have always been to start with.
Whatever the reason, the Facebook IPO has been underwhelming.
Working and investing in the internet industry every day, many in my game were hoping the Facebook IPO would overwhelm, and this would lead to a flurry of activity on Wall Street - a boom (rather than a bubble) which would capture the imagination of traditionally non-internet investors to the internet industry.
There is no evidence since the Facebook IPO that enthusiasm for internet investments will die down.
Venture Capital dollars are still going to internet investments in the multi-millions every day, near-billion dollar exit contracts are being drawn up, and funds are being raised to find more internet success stories.
Since the Facebook IPO, there is however a steadily growing maturity in discussions around internet success stories. People are again focusing on 'revenue potential' rather than simply 'social networking potential' when assessing ideas. Folks are realizing that cash may also be king in the internet world, and this is a sobering positive for our space.
The underwhelming Facebook IPO means internet businesses are still welcome on Wall Street, evidenced by the fact that there is still plenty of investor appetite in this brand of business, however more questions will be asked of them before they reach the stage of IPO.