Whoa. How about that IPO for LinkedIn that floated earlier today at the NYSE?
Perhaps business social networking is sexy, after all.
At least, so it seems, to investors.
A few days before its IPO, LinkedIn raised its offering price some 30 percent, to a range of between $42 and $45 per share.
Then, I see this coverage on TechCrunch indicating the company started trading at $83 per share, before rocketing past the $100 market and even into the $130s, then settling back into the $105 range.
As Leena Rao points out, even at $83 a share, LinkedIn is looking at a $7.8 billion market cap.
I was watching the talking heads yesterday on CNBC about whether or not this new way of social and tech-related IPO interest suggested a "tech bubble," to which I just laughed out loud.
Putting aside whether or not you believe LinkedIn's float came at too high a price, comparing today's environment to the tech bubble of the late 1990s is absurd on its face.
I remember those 1999 IPO valuations, where a Web metrics report and a PowerPoint seemed to justify hundreds of millions in value. LinkedIn, on the other hand, along with a number of the emerging social plays, is an actual revenue-generating company that benefited from the Internet cloud build-out since the bubble burst.
Lower storage and computing costs, higher and more ubiquitous broadband access, open-source, and lower cost development tools and platforms, and yes, a great diversity of venture capital... all are factors that helped pave the way to this digital renaissance.
But make no mistake, compared to many Internet outfits in 1999, the GroupOns and Facebooks and LinkedIns of the world are generating cash, which is always helpful to a viable and ongoing business concern!
And speaking of viable concerns, the latest IBM SmartCamp was held in Austin, Texas, earlier this week, and though I was too busy to attend, the event was covered on LiveStream.
SecureWaters has a patented technology that monitors, detects, and identifies toxins in surface water, and sells a smarter, real-time early warning electronic monitor and alarm system.
You can see its one-minute elevator pitch here.
IBM SmartCamp is an exclusive event aimed at identifying early stage entrepreneurs developing business ventures that align with IBM's Smarter Planet vision.
Applications are still being taken for the New York City event on June 28-29, but you to have applied by June 3, so if you're interested, get those applications in!
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