For those of you that get the subscription VentureWire emails, you may have noticed the subtitle today “Recent buyout-backed IPO activity is a positive sign, but don’t expect any VC-funded IPOs anytime soon.” It also included the equally pessimistic, “…but doesn’t expect any venture-backed companies to price before Thanksgiving.”
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the press is so feverishly pessimistic about the IPO market. In 2009, no major company IPO filings have been pulled. Moreover, all five companies that have gone have done extremely well. Meanwhile, while VentureWire is laying it thick on the negative side, Ancestry.com files its S-1.
Hats off to management team and the investors in Ancestry. Many had written off this company, and its look like they have done a great job of reinvigorating growth and generating profitability.
I wonder how many successful IPO’s we need before people will stop saying the window is closed. Looks perfectly open to me.