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Late stage funding options are drying up big time. See Uber, Lyft, WeWork, and Softbank. These companies are still burning cash at high rates, so going to the p

Late stage funding options are drying up big time. See Uber, Lyft, WeWork, and Softbank. These companies are still burning cash at high rates, so going to the public markets is the only option to raise that much capital.

mrgordon 7y ago
This will most likely be a direct listing because Airbnb doesn't need to raise more capital. Its actually about employee liquidity for people waiting 10+ years.
- irq11 7y ago
  You keep saying this, but you can’t possibly know it unless you have inside knowledge. So either state your source or just say that you’re guessing.
  - mrgordon 7y ago
    One day later here is a huge NYTimes piece about how the employees were pushing hard for the public offering for years and it caused tensions: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/technology/airbnb-employees-ipo-payouts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/technology/airbnb-employe...
  - nemothekid 7y ago
    The source is Airbnb themselves saying they have been EBITDA profitable for 2 years now - which is a very strong and verifiable claim for once they do go public. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/ahead-of-ipo-airbnb-achieves-profitability-for-second-year-in-a-row/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/ahead-of-ipo-airbnb-achiev...
    - random42 7y ago
      I believe the parent comment was regarding "Its actually about employee liquidity.. " part.
      - mrgordon 7y ago
        There have been articles since at least mid 2018 talking about how Airbnb doesn’t need additional money and how it was taking steps to prepare for going public before early employee equity grants expired in 2020. After they reworked how they gave employees equity that summer and promised to be IPO ready by mid 2019 to assuage employees, many publications ran articles about it. Here is one article from this past summer which continues to emphasize the exact same points a year later: https://medium.com/swlh/why-airbnb-wont-go-public-in-2019-56c8dfa90605 https://medium.com/swlh/why-airbnb-wont-go-public-in-2019-56... Here are some excerpts from that article: ————— Airbnb’s last funding round was in the first months of 2017, over two years ago. There is a straightforward explanation for that. Airbnb makes money. It is that rare thing; a profitable tech company. That means it doesn’t have to run to become public quite as eagerly as other companies. Its growth can be funded by the money it takes in itself. ... Getting access to capital from a vast pool of investors is one of the main reasons companies go public. Supporting an IPO is a time consuming and expensive affair. Since Airbnb doesn’t need as much money for research and development or expanding its market, there is less incentive to IPO. ... There is one excellent reason that Airbnb will go public in 2020, though. That’s when some shares promised to employees will expire — meaning they won’t be able to reap the financial rewards that come with growing a company.
  - mrgordon 7y ago
    Literally google “Airbnb direct listing” and you can see top analysts talking about it for years. Just like they said Spotify would do a direct listing and then they did. Just like they said Slack would do a direct listing and then they did. Airbnb is actually profitable (at least EBITDA) unlike these other companies and hasn’t raised a major round in a while since they don’t need capital. This makes them a much better direct listing candidate than those previous companies. It was widely reported they met with Morgan Stanley about a direct listing and Morgan Stanley is considered the expert in the field since they managed the last few. How is Reuters for a source? If you prefer something else it has been covered by the vast majority of the financial press. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-ipo/airbnb-plans-public-listing-in-2020-idUSKBN1W41Z7 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-ipo/airbnb-plans-p... “In a short statement posted on its website on Thursday, Airbnb did not give any details on how it plans to list its shares, although it is widely expected to take a direct-listing route. A direct listing to go public is a process in which no new shares are created and helps companies save millions of dollars in underwriting fees.” So why can’t I know what is widely reported to media by company insiders and has been for years?

mrgordon 7y ago

This will most likely be a direct listing because Airbnb doesn't need to raise more capital. Its actually about employee liquidity for people waiting 10+ years.

irq11 7y ago
You keep saying this, but you can’t possibly know it unless you have inside knowledge. So either state your source or just say that you’re guessing.
- mrgordon 7y ago
  One day later here is a huge NYTimes piece about how the employees were pushing hard for the public offering for years and it caused tensions: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/technology/airbnb-employees-ipo-payouts.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/technology/airbnb-employe...
- nemothekid 7y ago
  The source is Airbnb themselves saying they have been EBITDA profitable for 2 years now - which is a very strong and verifiable claim for once they do go public. https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/ahead-of-ipo-airbnb-achieves-profitability-for-second-year-in-a-row/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/15/ahead-of-ipo-airbnb-achiev...
  - random42 7y ago
    I believe the parent comment was regarding "Its actually about employee liquidity.. " part.
    - mrgordon 7y ago
      There have been articles since at least mid 2018 talking about how Airbnb doesn’t need additional money and how it was taking steps to prepare for going public before early employee equity grants expired in 2020. After they reworked how they gave employees equity that summer and promised to be IPO ready by mid 2019 to assuage employees, many publications ran articles about it. Here is one article from this past summer which continues to emphasize the exact same points a year later: https://medium.com/swlh/why-airbnb-wont-go-public-in-2019-56c8dfa90605 https://medium.com/swlh/why-airbnb-wont-go-public-in-2019-56... Here are some excerpts from that article: ————— Airbnb’s last funding round was in the first months of 2017, over two years ago. There is a straightforward explanation for that. Airbnb makes money. It is that rare thing; a profitable tech company. That means it doesn’t have to run to become public quite as eagerly as other companies. Its growth can be funded by the money it takes in itself. ... Getting access to capital from a vast pool of investors is one of the main reasons companies go public. Supporting an IPO is a time consuming and expensive affair. Since Airbnb doesn’t need as much money for research and development or expanding its market, there is less incentive to IPO. ... There is one excellent reason that Airbnb will go public in 2020, though. That’s when some shares promised to employees will expire — meaning they won’t be able to reap the financial rewards that come with growing a company.
- mrgordon 7y ago
  Literally google “Airbnb direct listing” and you can see top analysts talking about it for years. Just like they said Spotify would do a direct listing and then they did. Just like they said Slack would do a direct listing and then they did. Airbnb is actually profitable (at least EBITDA) unlike these other companies and hasn’t raised a major round in a while since they don’t need capital. This makes them a much better direct listing candidate than those previous companies. It was widely reported they met with Morgan Stanley about a direct listing and Morgan Stanley is considered the expert in the field since they managed the last few. How is Reuters for a source? If you prefer something else it has been covered by the vast majority of the financial press. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-ipo/airbnb-plans-public-listing-in-2020-idUSKBN1W41Z7 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbnb-ipo/airbnb-plans-p... “In a short statement posted on its website on Thursday, Airbnb did not give any details on how it plans to list its shares, although it is widely expected to take a direct-listing route. A direct listing to go public is a process in which no new shares are created and helps companies save millions of dollars in underwriting fees.” So why can’t I know what is widely reported to media by company insiders and has been for years?