At this moment, if you aren’t going public via a direct listing, traditional IPO or SPAC, are you even a growthy business?
Every CEO I talk with at a start-up that’s doing more than Series B-level income tells me that SPACs are circling, starving for a deal so they won’t need to return collected capital to their original backers. There’s an old joke: If all you have is a hammer, everything appears like a nail. Other than this time, if all you have is a blank-check company, every erstwhile startup appears like a public business in waiting.
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Enter WeWork. Yes, the company famous for torching a mountain of cash that would measure up to the Ever Given in large bulk is going public via a SPAC. This morning we’re going through its investor presentation, asking ourselves concerns like, “Is this as nasty a company as it was a couple of years ago?” and “Why, oh God, why do we need to talk about WeWork again?”
But that’s not all. Axios, the unusual media startup that appeared positioned for an excellent run, might combine with The Athletic and go public through a SPAC. At least per WSJ reporting.
It’s possible to summon arguments in favor of the deal. The Athletic has what Axios does not have and vice versa, so perhaps combining the previous’s membership base with the newsletter-and-ads prowess of the latter would make for an attractive business. Maybe.
However the main gist of this early morning is that personal investors in companies of all stripes are attempting to get their money out while it’s still possible. That’s why we have actually seen eleventy-seven LIDAR and electric-vehicle SPACs. These aren’t generally business that are ready to go public; they’re companies with financiers that are ready to squander.
The very same momentum uses to the WeWork deal and the possible Axios combo-and-SPAC, I reckon.
Today, greed isn’t truly great, to price quote an old film. It’s been good for so long among the tech-and-money class that pricing estimate a movie about a corrupt financier is too dull to warrant even warmed-over apathy. Instead, greed is god, and we’re all seeing its ascension.
Now let’s absorb the current sacrifices.
WeWork
Initially, is WeWork a recovered business that has shown a capability to grow while losing less money? Not actually.
Article curated by RJ Shara from Source. RJ Shara is a Bay Area Radio Host (Radio Jockey) who talks about the startup ecosystem – entrepreneurs, investments, policies and more on her show The Silicon Dreams. The show streams on Radio Zindagi 1170AM on Mondays from 3.30 PM to 4 PM.
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