The Year of Tech IPO’s: From Groupon’s Success to Renren’s Disappointment

As you have probably noticed, over the past year there has been a lot of news surrounding tech IPO’s. New companies like Pandora and LinkedIn have made HUGE splashes with their IPO’s in recent months. It seems like every month a hot new company goes public, but these IPO’s aren’t always pretty. Today I’m going to talk about some recent tech IPO’s, how they are doing now, and some future IPO’s that investors are about to bust a nut for.

The biggest tech IPO’s of the year include: Demand Media (online media/content farm company), Zipcar (membership-based car sharing company), Renren (China’s largest social networking site), LinkedIn, Yandex (Russia’s largest search engine site), Bankrate (personal finance company), Pandora Media (online radio), Zillow (online real estate database), Skullcandy (headphones), and yesterday, Groupon.

Groupon has been trying to go public for a few months now, and ended up being the biggest tech IPO since Google went public in 2004. Groupon offered 35 million shares total at $20 each, and as of this morning the company is worth almost $13 billion with shares sitting at $26.11. The IPO was a huge success for the company, even though there is a lot of skepticism about its future. One thing is for sure though, the IPO made a lot of investors happy. Like many IPOs, there were a lot of people who became millionaires and even billionaires overnight just because of the IPO.

For Groupon’s IPO, check out this Business Insider list of lucky people that made a lot of money as shareholders. The biggest winners include Starbucks’ Howard Schultz who got $50 million, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz’s venture capital firm got $92.2 million, and Groupon CEO Andrew Mason’s stake is now worth a whopping $1.2 billion.

Even though most of the recent tech IPO’s have initially been successful, a majority have gone downhill since. Demand Media went public in January with a debut price that was 33% higher then the share price of $17, valuing the company at more than $1 billion. Today however, the shares sit at just $7.47. Renren, basically the Facebook of China, was said to have a spectacular IPO in May with shares surging 28.6% above its $14 IPO price. Today Renren share’s are down to a dismal $5.74.

There are some companies who have kept their value, though. Since LinkedIn’s huge IPO in May, where shares closed 109% above IPO price, they now sit at $81, just below the IPO price of $83. Today Pandora is also doing all right, with shares just a few cents below the IPO price of $16. Real estate database company Zillow is still doing really well, with shares staying almost $10 above the IPO price of $20, but still way under the debut price of $57.

The chart below shows 25 recent hyped up IPO’s and how they’re fairing. “Pop” refers tothe jump from the offering IPO price to the debut price. (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Overall, it’s not very pretty after the initial offering. In terms of the average of the 25 above companies, shares have slipped 31% from their opening price.

The successes of some of these companies in the beginning of the year triggered an IPO race with many tech companies, but since seeing disappointments such as Renren’s, a lot of companies have backed off or are waiting until later for an IPO. Of these companies, the most notable is of course Facebook, which plans to go public next year sometime. Also there’s Zynga, the Facebook game company that could have an IPO this year, Living Social, Groupon’s biggest competitor, next year probably, and Twitter, which will probably wait until 2013.

It has definitely been an exciting year for tech IPO’s, I think it’s amazing how a company like Groupon or LinkedIn can be worth BILLIONS in such a short period of time. This is the land of opportunity, and there’s money to be made out there, but just because a company debuts way above the IPO price doesn’t mean it will stay there. We’ll see how long Groupon CEO Andrew Mason stays a billionaire. My guess? Not very long…

Feel free to leave any questions or comments below!

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College Professor First Impressions On the First Day of Class

Now that I’m in my seventh semester of college, I have been to a lot of first days of class and been taught by many different teachers. As I was sitting in class on Monday, waiting for my professor to show up, I began thinking about what kind of professor would be schooling me on politics this semester. I didn’t even know if it would be a professor, doctor, first year teacher or anything. Would he be strict, funny, interesting, dry or boring?

I think a teacher’s first impression on the first day of class is very important, from a student’s perspective. Every teacher has their own style of teaching, and the first day of class, for me anyways, is really just an hour of analyzing the teacher and making sure this is a class that 1) I can get an A in, 2) I can enjoy, at least a little bit and, 3) taught by a teacher that I will get along with and make me want to show up for class.

The professor in Transformers 2 makes a great first impression on his class, especially after Sam has his little freak out

First impressions can be deceiving, however. Sometimes teachers want to come off as super strict on the first day so all the slackers will drop the class. Some come off as super sweet so students will like them. Some come off as very knowledgeable, even bragging about their job history or past. Some just don’t give a shit, and give you a lecture on not caring about texting in class, using a laptop or even showing up to class.

I’ve found that first impressions can either set the tone for the rest of the semester, or can be totally misleading. I had an English class freshman year where the teacher came off as very strict, with a no fun type of attitude. I immediately dropped the class and picked up a different one. Later on in the semester, I talked to a friend who had stayed in the class. He told me about how easy the class was and how nice the teacher was, accepting late homework, showing movies and getting to know the students. I was astonished, because the English class that I had picked up was actually pretty difficult.

I’ve also learned that getting to know teachers can really help you out in the end, especially when you get your final grade. Now, I email each of my professors and ask about the textbooks before class begins each semester. My emails are professional and polite, and I have a professional signature at the end of my email, with a link to my LinkedIn account. This gives me a way to not only see how professional my professors are, in email at least, but they also might remember my name when class starts AND, depending on how they end their emails, whether they are a professor or not and if they liked to be called by first name, Mr., Ms., etc.

First impressions can mean everything to students, but don’t take them for granted. Every teacher has their own style of presenting on the first day, sometimes it give you an idea of how the class is going to be taught, and sometimes it tells you nothing at all.

Have any interesting first impression experiences, comments or questions? Feel free to leave them below!

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How To Land An Internship In College

1.   Solidify Your Online Presence
You need to have a strong personal brand online that will represent you if employers Google your name or do any online research about you. This means that your Facebook needs to be clean and somewhat professional. You should have a LinkedIn account that shows your past job experience and also has recommendations for your work. To make your personal brand even stronger, start networking with professionals on LinkedIn and Twitter. Start a blog that talks about something related to your major. Connect with other bloggers and be an active member in the online blog community. When applying for a job, blog about something related to that job, this way if the company reads your blog they’ll know you’re serious. Google yourself and see what comes up.

2.   Network
Network, network, network! This means networking online through social media, offline at school, at work, at the bar, at career fairs, and basically ANYWHERE you go. You never know when you’ll meet someone that could help you get an internship, now or in the future. When meeting people, if you exchange contact information, make sure to follow up with that contact. This means emailing them and saying, “it was nice to meet you,” if you have nothing else to say.

3.   Attend Career Fairs
College career fairs are great for finding internships. Where else can you go where there are a large number of businesses looking to give YOU internships? Use them! Look up a list of companies that will be attending the fair, research those companies and create a tailored resume for each of the ones you are interested in. Get the contact info for the HR reps and follow up with them by email right after the fair.

4.   Hit The Online Job Boards
There’s always websites that will be offering internships. Check out your university’s online job board or career website, local job listing websites, and craigslist.

5.   Seek Out Companies You Would Like To Intern For
If you’re looking for an internship in a specific field, don’t be afraid to seek out companies you would like to work for, especially if they are smaller, local firms. Find out who to contact from their website or LinkedIn and try to connect with them. See if you know anyone who has contacts at the company and see if they can help you out. At the very least, email them your tailored resume and cover letter and let them know you would like to be an intern for their company.

6.   Perfect Your Resume
Make sure your resume is perfect. Attend resume workshops and get as many opinions as you can on your resume. Ask professors and professionals to take a look and make sure it’s the best resume it can be before submitting it to employers.

7.   Kill The Interview
Once you get an interview, prepare for it as much as possible. This means researching the company as if you had to write a report on it. Have questions ready for your interviewer. Also prepare for common questions you might be asked, such as “tell me about yourself,” or situational questions. If you are asked to talk about your past work experience, explain your accomplishments, your experiences, what you learned, and ALWAYS tie it back into how your past work experience will help you at that company if you are hired.

8.   Follow Up
Send a thank you email to the person who interviewed you. In the brief email, include a thank you, and a statement on why you would be perfect for the job that includes something you learned from the interview. Close the email with a “I look forward to hearing from you” statement and a professional signature that includes your personal website if you have one.

9.   Never Burn Bridges
In the event that you are not hired, don’t take it too hard on yourself. If you receive this bad news in an email, respond to the email thanking them for the time. Ask them to please keep you in mind if another position is open, and then keep them updated in the future as you gain more work and college experience.

Please share any questions, comments or other tips below!