Tapping the large amounts of capital in the public markets is becoming more important to such investors. Over the last decade, hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into the venture capital industry. And venture capital money meant that highly valued start-ups — “unicorns,” in Silicon Valley parlance — were able to remain private for longer without turning to the public markets for fund-raising. That posed a risk for venture capital firms and other investors, whose stakes had gained large amounts of value on paper but weren’t easily liquidated. The favorable reception on the first day doesn’t guarantee a promising future for any company, even a highly valued Silicon Valley offering.

Source: New York Times March 23, 2018 16:52 UTC