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RE: [SLUG] IPO's
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-slug@nospam.newtreno.spectrum.com.au
> [mailto:owner-slug@nospam.newtreno.spectrum.com.au]On Behalf Of Jamie Honan
> Sent: Friday, 11 February 2000 09:31
> To: slug@nospam.slug.org.au
> Subject: [SLUG] IPO's
>
> This isn't a reflection on Giles or the job or the company but
> about a general trend.
>
> What are people's opinions about IPO's and the enormous sums of
> money involved?
>
> I'm wondering if this is healthy. Certainly people deserve
> considerable benefits, but aren't there downsides to this?
>
> - creation of haves and have-nots
There always are, and always will be, haves and have-nots. This can only be
changed by individuals, not by pointing the finger at processes or events.
I don't see the people involved in IPOs, or the IPO process itself, as being
any worse than, say, investment bankers, or stock traders, or property
developers. These sorts of people make millions of dollars all the time, and
some choose to spend it on themselves, and some on improving their
community.
In the end, it comes down to the individuals.
> - are the sums involved in IPO's healthy for the ecomnomy
In general, yes. Process that keeps money flowing through the economy are
usually good. Anything that causes money to be stagnant, is usually bad. One
of the reasons why Australia's economy is so dull is that most of people's
capital is tied up in their house mortagages because the tax regime makes is
sensible to do so. Other economies such as the the US and Japan where house
ownership is not so widespread have much more vibrant economies
> - loss of sense of community (maybe this sense was false anyway)
In what way does an IPO cause a loss of sense of community?
> On the other hand:
>
> - if fools are throwing their money around only a fool doesn't take it
> - is it envy that belittles others success?
Both of these are probably true, but are not the major down-sides to the
current IPO boom in our industry.
I see the major problem with IPOs is that it tends to steer innovation
towards technology that can be made marketable within a short time frame,
say 6-18 months. Anything that takes longer than that is probably not
attractive to VCs, and hence will get left on the shelf until someone who
has already made their money comes along and invests in it.
Regards,
Craig Southeren
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