5 ms·

Seems like most Ycombinator backed IPO would've have been bad bets. Once shares are floated in the public market, retailers are an after thought.

redisman 4y ago
I mean it is called an “exit” right?
- scarface74 4y ago
  Also a Ponzi Scheme.
  - kolbe 4y ago
    That term gets used way too often and way too loosely. At some level, everything is a Ponzi Scheme. I think "pump and dump" is more accurately descriptive. And you never know: YC suppressing bad press on HN and promoting good press could be considered market manipulation.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Everything isn’t a Ponzi scheme though. The current well known profitable tech companies were all profitable before they IPOd except for Amazon and Netflix(?). Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Intel, Nvidia, etc. Have there been any successful sustainably profitable tech companies to go public since Facebook?
      - kolbe 4y ago
        $FB was barely profitable, IPOing with a 400 P/E. And they had losses in two consecutive quarters a year after the IPO[1]. AMZN wasn't profitable for 7 years, then fell to unprofitable again in 2012 and 2014[2]. AAPL was net in the red from 1996 to 2003[3]. So, were all these companies "Ponzi schemes" during the eras where they were investing in growth? And if your only qualification is to "be profitable" for something not to be a Ponzi, then why are you here ragging on places like Coinbase? Coinbase is a 5.7 P/E company with $4b in net cash right now. [1] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/FB/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/FB/income-statement [2] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement [3] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement
        scarface74 4y ago
        Apple went public in 1980 and Facebook was at least profitable. Everyone though that Amazon would never make a profit. Even today most of Amazon’s profit comes from AWS.
        kolbe 4y ago
        So, you don't even bother respecting what I wrote? Cool. I'm sorry I bothered to help you. If your definition of "Ponzi Scheme" is simply that a company is profitable the moment they go public, then not even the original Ponzi Scheme was a Ponzi Scheme.
alephnan 4y ago
Yup. AirBNB's darling beat expectations but also lost 50% from ATH. Just this week it went down 30%.
- enos_feedler 4y ago
  I think this is baby out with the bath water situation. Its an expensive stock but for good reason. Network lock in, strong durable brand, sound business model, product oriented. In the right sector where travel demand picks up and work flexibility has opened more of the market. Disclosure: i just loaded up on this today
jollybean 4y ago
I think this is more of a beta issue than alpha. You'd have to normalize of the giant tidal waves of financial flows to see of YC IPOs are good or bad thing in reality.

redisman 4y ago

I mean it is called an “exit” right?

scarface74 4y ago
Also a Ponzi Scheme.
- kolbe 4y ago
  That term gets used way too often and way too loosely. At some level, everything is a Ponzi Scheme. I think "pump and dump" is more accurately descriptive. And you never know: YC suppressing bad press on HN and promoting good press could be considered market manipulation.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Everything isn’t a Ponzi scheme though. The current well known profitable tech companies were all profitable before they IPOd except for Amazon and Netflix(?). Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Intel, Nvidia, etc. Have there been any successful sustainably profitable tech companies to go public since Facebook?
    - kolbe 4y ago
      $FB was barely profitable, IPOing with a 400 P/E. And they had losses in two consecutive quarters a year after the IPO[1]. AMZN wasn't profitable for 7 years, then fell to unprofitable again in 2012 and 2014[2]. AAPL was net in the red from 1996 to 2003[3]. So, were all these companies "Ponzi schemes" during the eras where they were investing in growth? And if your only qualification is to "be profitable" for something not to be a Ponzi, then why are you here ragging on places like Coinbase? Coinbase is a 5.7 P/E company with $4b in net cash right now. [1] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/FB/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/FB/income-statement [2] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement [3] https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement https://www.fintopea.com/quote/AMZN/income-statement
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Apple went public in 1980 and Facebook was at least profitable. Everyone though that Amazon would never make a profit. Even today most of Amazon’s profit comes from AWS.
        kolbe 4y ago
        So, you don't even bother respecting what I wrote? Cool. I'm sorry I bothered to help you. If your definition of "Ponzi Scheme" is simply that a company is profitable the moment they go public, then not even the original Ponzi Scheme was a Ponzi Scheme.

alephnan 4y ago

Yup. AirBNB's darling beat expectations but also lost 50% from ATH. Just this week it went down 30%.

enos_feedler 4y ago
I think this is baby out with the bath water situation. Its an expensive stock but for good reason. Network lock in, strong durable brand, sound business model, product oriented. In the right sector where travel demand picks up and work flexibility has opened more of the market. Disclosure: i just loaded up on this today

jollybean 4y ago

I think this is more of a beta issue than alpha. You'd have to normalize of the giant tidal waves of financial flows to see of YC IPOs are good or bad thing in reality.