TechCrunch May 15, 2014
Is Winter coming? It may already be here, according to VCs like Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures and John Lilly of Greylock. We asked some of the world’s most respected investors about state of valuations at TechCrunch Disrupt NY. The consensus is that public tech company prices soared too close to the sun, and their fall is now dragging down fundraising and IPO potential for private companies.
Late 2013 and early 2014 saw companies rushing to take advantage of boom-time valuations. Uber, Pinterest, and Dropbox all raised rounds north of $200 million, stockpiling cash in case the market went sour. Twitter’s IPO was a blockbuster and Facebook’s share priced hit new heights, opening the door to the public market. Companies like King, Grubhub, Zulily, Weibo, Castlight, and Coupons.com jumped at the chance, and many had big first-day pops.
But then everything went to hell. Twitter, LinkedIn, and many other public companies saw share prices plummet. Suddenly, the IPO door slammed shut, and reports indicate Box, Square, and others may delay IPOs until things get sunnier.
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