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Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

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Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#11

Just when you thought bay area housing pries couldn't get any crazier, Uber files for IPO same week as Lyft.

Its a race against the market slowdown. The 6 months cooling (waiting time) is going to be the most nerve racking for employees wanting to sell.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#12
post #7

So are these companies rushing to IPO before a 'potential' recession occurs? Does anyone else not feel confident about this? It seems fear driven and not very calculated. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture..

Launching before a recession is more ideal than before as funding would be easier to secure from the public vs private institutions especially if they continue losing money at this rate.

I’m assuming the second “before” should be an “after”?

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#13

So are these companies rushing to IPO before a 'potential' recession occurs? Does anyone else not feel confident about this? It seems fear driven and not very calculated. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture..

Definitely fear driven. Recently we've seen the biggest sustained downward drops in five years for tech stocks, I think beginning the process now is just too late.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#15

I'd confidently state that I love capitalism, but I'm not very happy with the idea that Uber could turn 17 billion dollars into 7 billion dollars and then hand the bag to retail investors. The thing I tell myself is that the money is all going to the same place anyway. Yeah, Uber is going to cash out and bomb from their IPO price, and everyone who buys will lose. But anyone who would buy Uber is going to do any numbe…

Many Fidelity mutual funds managing assets of retail investors hold (private) Uber stock.

Hm, would those be interested in keeping it private so Uber doesn't lose so much value or getting it public so they can quickly cash out?

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#16

I'd confidently state that I love capitalism, but I'm not very happy with the idea that Uber could turn 17 billion dollars into 7 billion dollars and then hand the bag to retail investors. The thing I tell myself is that the money is all going to the same place anyway. Yeah, Uber is going to cash out and bomb from their IPO price, and everyone who buys will lose. But anyone who would buy Uber is going to do any numbe…

I have no lost sleep for retail investors who confuse speculation with investment. That’s their money and they do can as they wish.

It’s the forced buy in by funds and pensions that I don’t like. Many are dictated by objective formulas like top N by market cap which may lead either Uber or Lyft to be included quite quickly. Biggest preventer for either may be the “four recent quarters of profitability” requirement. Depending on the IPO and crash timing, this could be a bad one.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#17

Decades ago companies competed in being the first to bring the product to the market, so enough prospects would try theirs first and become loyal users. These days the competition is about being the first to sell your story to the retail investor before the hype cools down and people get disillusioned about the entire business model (see GRPN, SNAP, etc). I'm truly wondering how sustainable is this and how hard the m…

My favorite thing about the public markets is that it doesn't matter how much hype a company garners on TechCrunch, where the founders went to school, or how slick the company office spaces are. A piece of shit is a piece of shit, and conversely, a diamond is a diamond. That's not to say that public companies can't run on hype--they absolutely can--but eventually hype wears off and a company must show that it's a real business.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#18

So are these companies rushing to IPO before a 'potential' recession occurs? Does anyone else not feel confident about this? It seems fear driven and not very calculated. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture..

The timing may be fear driven, but the fact that they are going to IPO has been obvious for a very long time now. No reason not to go for it at this point.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#20

Decades ago companies competed in being the first to bring the product to the market, so enough prospects would try theirs first and become loyal users. These days the competition is about being the first to sell your story to the retail investor before the hype cools down and people get disillusioned about the entire business model (see GRPN, SNAP, etc). I'm truly wondering how sustainable is this and how hard the m…

My favorite thing about the public markets is that it doesn't matter how much hype a company garners on TechCrunch, where the founders went to school, or how slick the company office spaces are. A piece of shit is a piece of shit, and conversely, a diamond is a diamond. That's not to say that public companies can't run on hype--they absolutely can--but eventually hype wears off and a company must show that it's a rea…

Have you met TSLA? Public markets are as much based on hype than anything else.
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