IPO Window May Be Closing

May 23, 2010 Duncan Davidson

ReachLocal (RLOC) priced this week at $13, well below its range ($17-19). It opened and sank below $12 then rose to finish the week above $15, still well below the range.

This disappointment has spawned speculation that the IPO market is freezing up. One can dismiss the RLOC situation due to a horrific couple of weeks – they were on the road in Europe the week the Euro seemed about to implode – but it comes after other withdrawn or poor offerings.

The next interesting IPO is Tesla, which is scheduled to go on the road in June. It just cut a deal with Toyota, on the backs of a deal with Mercedes, so as a business it seems to be in high gear. Electrics are the future of transport, and Tesla is the first new car company out of the starting blocks. This IPO should give it access to the gallons of capital it will need to compete at world scale.

Disclosure: I have an indirect venture interest in RLOC and Tesla

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About Duncan Davidson 228 Articles

Affiliation: NetService Ventures

Duncan is an advisor to NetService Ventures, where he focuses on digital media and the mobile Internet.

Previously he was at four start-ups: Xumii, a mobile social service based on a Social Addressbook; SkyPilot Networks, the performance leader of wireless mesh systems for last-mile access, where he was the founding CEO; Covad Communications (Amex: DVW, $9B market cap at the peak), the leading independent DSL access provider, where he was the founding Chairman; InterTrust Technologies ($9B market cap at the peak), the pioneer in digital rights management technologies, now owned by Sony and Philips, where he was SVP Business Development and the pitchman for the IPO.

Before these ventures, Duncan was a partner at Cambridge Venture Partners, an early-stage venture firm, and managing partner of Gemini McKenna, a joint venture between Regis McKenna's marketing firm and Gemini Consulting, the global management consulting arm of Cap Gemini.

He serves on the board or is an adviser to Aggregate Knowledge (content discovery), Livescribe (digital pen), AllVoices (citizen journalism), Xumii (mobile social addressbook), Verismo (Internet settop box), and Widevine (DRM for IPTV).

Visit: Duncan Davidson's Blogs

IPO Window May Be Closing

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