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Continuing our series of interviews with leading technology luminaries, The Exchange recently caught up with Visionary Founder/CEO at Large Unicorn as its IPO priced and began to trade this week.
After a rapid-fire series of S-1 filings, Large Unicorn priced above its own expectations, raising more capital than it had likely anticipated during the lead-up to its public offering.
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Our first read that Large Unicorn’s IPO pricing saga indicated strong public market interest for its equity was born out when it began to trade this morning, with its shares appreciating sharply in early trading. Regular commentary regarding the value, lack of importance, or sheer perniciousness of IPO pops was alight on Twitter, of course.
To better understand the company’s IPO and the path Visionary Founder/CEO took to the public markets, we got them on the blower. What follows is a loosely edited transcript of our call, condensed modestly for readability.
Let’s have some fun!
The Exchange: Kicking off, your company priced above expectations. What can you tell us about the current appetite for high-growth, unprofitable technology shares among public-market investors?
Visionary Founder/CEO: Hey, thanks Alex. Yeah, we were impressed with how sophisticated the market was. People really seemed to get Large Unicorn’s growth story, and how massive our market is. You know, with folks in Industry X and Industry Y really turning into digitally accelerated front-line leaders as opposed to the old labor model, we really do feel like public-market investors see the long haul. We’re building for the next 1,723 years over here at Large Unicorn.
The Exchange: Got it, got it. One thing everyone noticed was that after pricing at $XX per share, you opened at $XXX per share. Did Large Unicorn leave money on the table?
Visionary Founder/CEO: Yeah, great question. [pause, sound of paper shuffling] Look, an IPO is not the finish line; it’s really just another chapter in our longer journey. A milestone. So, I’m not looking at the share price today. And I’ll tell you what I told the company earlier this week: It’s business as usual.
The Exchange: But you don’t feel like your company was underpriced? You aren’t irked that you could have raised more capital at what appears to be the market-clearing price?
Visionary Founder/CEO: The company is well-capitalized now, and we’re looking ahead. And I’ll tell you, Alex, that we got the investors we wanted. I’m talking about long-term holders of our stock. But really, it’s all about the next 17 decades, not the next quarterly earnings report.
The Exchange: OK. You raised a lot more capital than you probably intended to, post-IPO pricing issues aside. So what does the extended balance sheet unlock for the company?
Visionary Founder/CEO: Yeah, Alex, listen, our market is 78 quadrillion dollars, and our current run rate is 78 cents, or less than a dollar per year, so we’re going to go out there and bring Large Unicorn’s key business-empowering services to more folks. We’re going to unlock the potential of the power, the power of potentiality, and, potentially, power itself. Businesses will be accelerated, and if you recall the first time we spoke, I told you that [inaudible] and how that would [inaudible] Mars [inaudible] EBITDA [inaudible].
The Exchange: Hey, I lost you there for a moment — are you on a landline or cell phone? Want me to call you directly?
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