Google rewrote the book for initial public offerings in two ways. One is that they bypassed the traditional investment banking syndicate for an auction (which is a good development) and the other is that they were unapologetic about the fact that they had two classes of shares and that the founders would hold on to the shares with the disproportionately large voting rights. While shares with different voting rights are par for the course in many parts of the world (Latin America, for instance), their use in the United States was limited to a few sectors; publishing and media companies such as...
Valuing young growth companies: A postscript on Linkedin
So, that was quite an opening for Linkedin.. The stock opened in the mid-80s, almost double the offer price. I know that some of you have used the model that I attached to my last post to value Linkedin on your own and that was exactly my point. None of us has a crystal ball that shows us the future and your estimates are as good as mine.However, since we are on the topic of young growth companies, here is what I see in the base year numbers for Linkedin, as contrasted with Skype:a. Linkedin is at an earlier stage in the life cycle that Skype. It revenue growth is more explosive (100% growth last...
Is Skype worth $8.5 billion? An exercise in valuing young, growth companies
Last week, Microsoft announced that it would buy Skype for $8.5 billion. The reaction was fast, furious and very predictable. First, there was the search for reasons for the deal and technology mavens listed a few. Second, there was the reaction from investors and analysts, which was generally not very positive. Third, it was noted that Bill Gates, the face of Microsoft for so long, was strongly in favor of the deal (thus providing cover for Steve Ballmer).Ultimately, though, the discussion of the deal was lacking in one key respect: Is Skype worth $8.5 billion to Microsoft? A few of the analysts...
The Little Book of Valuation
I don't like to use this blog as a publicity front, but my newest book just hit the bookstores. It is part of Wiley's Little Book series and it is titled "The Little Book of Valuation". My motivation for writing the book was simple. While I have three books on valuation - Investment Valuation, Damodaran on Valuation and The Dark Side of Valuation", they are all written for valuation practitioners. They are dense, not easy to read and require work to put into practice. I have always wanted to write a book for investors, many of seem to believe that valuation is far too complex for them to...
