Welcome to IPOville

　　歡迎加入IPO俱樂部

　　Social-media firms see champagne; others seebubbles

　　社交媒體的香檳酒，業外人士的泡沫沫

　　INITIAL public offerings of internet start-ups are like buses: you wait ages for one toarrive, then several turn up at once. After years in the doldrums, the IPO market fortechnology firms has suddenly sprung to life again in America.

　　網絡創業公司的首次公開募股就像等公車一樣：等半天不來一輛，突然一來就是好幾輛。正如美國技術企業的IPO市場, 歷經多年的死水微瀾之后，突然重煥生機。

　　LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, kicked things off last month with a flotation onthe New York Stock Exchange that valued it at $8.8 billion572 times its profits lastyearat the end of the first day of trading. Now a number of web outfits, including Groupon,which offers online coupons, and Pandora Media, an internet-radio firm, are queuing to join theparty. Other start-ups could soon add themselves to the crowd, notably Zynga, the creator ofaddictive online games such as FarmVille, in which players grow turnips and breed pigs.

　　人脈網是一個職業人士專用的社交網絡，上個月，在紐約證劵交易所舉行了首次公開募股，當天便籌集到88億美元資金這可是該網站去年利潤的572倍。如今包括高朋網和潘多拉傳媒在內的多家網絡企業也對此趨之若鶩，希望能分一杯羹。其余新興網絡創業公司也可能會迅速加入其中，辛加便是個中典型，推出了一系列引人上癮的網絡游戲，例如美版開心農場，玩家可以在游戲中種蘿卜、養豬等等。

　　Web companies from China, Russia and elsewhereare also rushing to list on American exchanges.Shortly after LinkedIns stunning debut, which sawits share price more than double, Yandex, Russiaslargest search engine, floated its shares on theNYSE. Its price soared by more than 50% on thefirst day of trading. These first-day pops, asbankers call them, have stoked fears that a newinternet bubble is inflating and reignited a furiousdebate about how best to value web start-ups.

　　中國、俄羅斯以及其他國家的網絡公司也在爭先恐后地加入美國證劵交易所的上市名單。在人脈網一炮走紅，股價上升兩倍多之后不久，俄羅斯最大的搜索引擎Yandex也立馬在紐約證交所發行了自己的股份，股價在首日的升值便超過了50%。這些一夜涌現的暴發戶激起了人們對于出現新一輪網絡產業泡沫的憂慮，也引發了一場關于如何正確評估新興網絡公司的激烈辯論。

　　Groupons potential price tag is already controversial. Labelledthe fastest-growing company ever by ardent fans, the firm has turned a simple concept intoa money-spinner. Customers sign up to receive offers from local firms. Groupon spices up theprocess by, say, having some offers expire unless a certain minimum number of peoplesubscribe to them. This prompts people to nag their friends to shop at the same boutique oreat at the same dinerhence the group in Groupon.

　　高朋網的價值評估一直充滿爭議。該企業憑借將一個簡單概念化為搖錢樹的本事，被許多熱心的崇拜者標榜為史上發展得最快的公司。顧客可以通過簽約來獲得當地商家的優惠價格。高朋網則往這個過程中添油加醋，例如，在期限前若未達到最低訂購人數，本優惠將會失效，此舉便能激勵顧客不斷地催促朋友去購買同一件衣服，或者在同一家餐館進餐這就是高朋網所謂的團購。

　　The firm typically keeps roughly half of the money that customers fork out, with the rest goingto the businesses that actually supply the goods and services. Last year its revenues were$713m. In the first quarter of 2011 it took in a breathtaking $645m. Although Groupon is lessthan three years old, it operates in 43 countries and has no fewer than 83m subscribers.

　　高朋網通常將大約一半的消費者付款納入囊中，將剩下的部分交給實際提供了商品或服務的商家手中。去年其歲入高達7.13億美元，而僅2011年頭三個月的進賬就達到了驚人的6.45億美元。盡管高朋網誕生才不到3年，它的業務已經涵蓋43個國家，團客多達 8300萬人。

　　The snag is that the company is still bleeding red ink. It lost $390m in 2010 and $103m in thefirst quarter of this year. Critics find this alarming. Groupon retorts that it is simply spendingheavily to scoop up subscribers while the market it created is in its infancy. In its IPOprospectus, it urges investors to focus on other measures, such as free cashflow , which was positive last year, and the arcane-soundingadjusted consolidated segment operating income, which excludes such things as cash spenton online marketing.

　　該公司的頑疾在于血淋淋的財政赤字。2010年損失為3.9億美元，而本年度頭三個月就虧損了1.03億美元。批評家認為這個現象值得敲響警鐘，但高朋網反駁說這片新開創的市場尚處發展初期，赤字僅是源于招攬團客所需的大筆開銷。高朋網的公開招股說明書鼓勵投資者將注意力集中在其他指標上，例如在去年顯示出盈利的自由現金流，以及聽上去晦澀難懂的調整綜合區運營收入，其實就是除去諸如網絡營銷等開支后的財務數字。

　　The path to success will have twists and turns,moments of brilliance and other moments of sheerstupidity. Knowing that this will at times be a bumpyride, we thank you for considering joining us, writesGroupons boss, Andrew Mason, in a letter topotential stockholders. Not everyone is reassured.

　　成功之路蜿蜒曲折，路上光景，光輝燦爛抑或愚蠢十足。我們知道路途難免顛簸起伏，為此感謝你考慮加入我們。高朋網的總裁，安德魯?馬森在一封獻給未來股東的信件中如是寫道。但這并不能讓每個人都感到內心踏實。

　　How should one value a money-losing firm in a newindustry? PwC, a consultancy, ranks web firms according to their value per user. This iscalculated by dividing a start-ups estimated worth by the number of its users.

　　那我們該如何評估新興產業中的虧損企業呢?普華永道咨詢事務所將新興創業公司的預估價值除以其用戶的數量，計算出企業的每用戶價值，并根據該指標來對網絡企業進行排名。

　　By this benchmark, Groupon scores well, just below Facebook and Renren, a Chinese socialnetwork with a listing in America . But such measures do not reflect the risks ofGroupons model. The company may boast 83m users, but only 16m have actually bought aGroupon. Its success outside America has been patchy: just 9% of its subscribers in Londonhave ever bought anything from it.

　　按照每用戶價值的標準，高朋網的得分相當可觀，僅次于臉譜網和人人網。但這樣的基準并不能反映高朋網這個案例中的風險。高朋網吹噓自己擁有8300萬名用戶，但其中真正買過單的只有1600萬人。該公司在美國國外的業績更是良莠不齊：以倫敦為例，僅有9%的團客在高朋網上購買過東西。

　　Facebook enjoys a powerful network effect; Groupon, less so. It must spend a fortune tokeep signing up new subscribers. Hence its keenness to steer investors towards a measurethat excludes marketing costs. Groupons growth has attracted big competitors such asLivingSocial as well as a host of smaller start-ups. These rivals could poach its users withcheaper deals. And they could offer retailers better terms, too, in the process threateningGroupons fat margins.

　　臉譜網擁有強大的社群效應，這方面高朋網則遜色一籌。高朋網必須花費大筆錢財來不停地吸引新團客加入其中，正因如此，它才拼命地將投資者的注意力引到除去了營銷收入的財務指標之上。高朋網在崛起的同時也誘生了強大的競爭對手Living Social和一群規模較小的新興企業。這些競爭對手可能會以更低廉的價格挖走客戶，也可能向零售商開出更優惠的條件，無一不對高朋網口中的肥肉構成威脅。

　　All this shows why setting an offering price for shares in an IPO is so tricky. Its more an artthan a science, says Paul Bard of Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm in America.Investment banks are supposed to be masters of that art. But some people, such as PeterThiel, a big early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn, have accused the banks involved in theLinkedIn transaction of drastically underpricing the shares.

　　以上種種，均說明了首次公開募股的報價是一門微妙的學問，與其說是科學，不如說是藝術，美國IPO研究機構復興資本公司的保羅?巴德如此說道。投資銀行向來被視為是這門藝術的行家，但包括臉譜和人脈網的主要早期投資者彼得?席爾在內的一些人，都對投資銀行參與到人脈網的股票交易，將股票發行價大幅壓低而詬病不已。

　　Bankers have sometimes been accused of underpricing deals so that their investment clientscan make a swift killing on a firms shares. However in this case Mr Thiels gripe was that thebanks failed to appreciate LinkedIns tremendous potential. Perhaps it never occurred to thebankers involved that people would pay so much for such a risky stock.

　　投資銀行家有時會被指責刻意壓低交易價格，以便其投資客戶從購買的企業股票中大發橫財。然而席爾先生的矛頭這次僅針對投資銀行未能意識到人脈網的巨大潛力。或許原因在于，參與投資的銀行家永遠都不會想到，人們竟然會為了這家風險重重的股票投入如此多的金錢。

　　Yet there is something to be said for erring on the side of caution when setting initial offerprices. Elizabeth Demers, a professor at INSEAD, a business school near Paris, points out thatwhat companies lose in terms of hard cash in the early days can often be made up for in termsof the publicity they get when the news media applaud the explosive rise in their shareprices. They can also launch secondary issues of other shares at the new price established bythe IPO. Unless, of course, this really is a bubble, and it bursts.

　　在首次公開募股報價的時候，出于謹慎的考量而犯點錯誤是情有可原的。歐洲管理事務學院的伊麗莎白?德默斯教授指出，企業創業早期在現金上的損失，通常能在日后資訊媒體對其股價爆發式增長的宣傳和推崇中得到補償。當然，除非IPO只是一個要破滅的泡沫，企業也可以在首次公開募股建立的股價基礎上再次發行證劵。

　　Welcome to IPOville

　　歡迎加入IPO俱樂部

　　Social-media firms see champagne; others seebubbles

　　社交媒體的香檳酒，業外人士的泡沫沫

　　INITIAL public offerings of internet start-ups are like buses: you wait ages for one toarrive, then several turn up at once. After years in the doldrums, the IPO market fortechnology firms has suddenly sprung to life again in America.

　　網絡創業公司的首次公開募股就像等公車一樣：等半天不來一輛，突然一來就是好幾輛。正如美國技術企業的IPO市場, 歷經多年的死水微瀾之后，突然重煥生機。

　　LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, kicked things off last month with a flotation onthe New York Stock Exchange that valued it at $8.8 billion572 times its profits lastyearat the end of the first day of trading. Now a number of web outfits, including Groupon,which offers online coupons, and Pandora Media, an internet-radio firm, are queuing to join theparty. Other start-ups could soon add themselves to the crowd, notably Zynga, the creator ofaddictive online games such as FarmVille, in which players grow turnips and breed pigs.

　　人脈網是一個職業人士專用的社交網絡，上個月，在紐約證劵交易所舉行了首次公開募股，當天便籌集到88億美元資金這可是該網站去年利潤的572倍。如今包括高朋網和潘多拉傳媒在內的多家網絡企業也對此趨之若鶩，希望能分一杯羹。其余新興網絡創業公司也可能會迅速加入其中，辛加便是個中典型，推出了一系列引人上癮的網絡游戲，例如美版開心農場，玩家可以在游戲中種蘿卜、養豬等等。

　　Web companies from China, Russia and elsewhereare also rushing to list on American exchanges.Shortly after LinkedIns stunning debut, which sawits share price more than double, Yandex, Russiaslargest search engine, floated its shares on theNYSE. Its price soared by more than 50% on thefirst day of trading. These first-day pops, asbankers call them, have stoked fears that a newinternet bubble is inflating and reignited a furiousdebate about how best to value web start-ups.

　　中國、俄羅斯以及其他國家的網絡公司也在爭先恐后地加入美國證劵交易所的上市名單。在人脈網一炮走紅，股價上升兩倍多之后不久，俄羅斯最大的搜索引擎Yandex也立馬在紐約證交所發行了自己的股份，股價在首日的升值便超過了50%。這些一夜涌現的暴發戶激起了人們對于出現新一輪網絡產業泡沫的憂慮，也引發了一場關于如何正確評估新興網絡公司的激烈辯論。

　　Groupons potential price tag is already controversial. Labelledthe fastest-growing company ever by ardent fans, the firm has turned a simple concept intoa money-spinner. Customers sign up to receive offers from local firms. Groupon spices up theprocess by, say, having some offers expire unless a certain minimum number of peoplesubscribe to them. This prompts people to nag their friends to shop at the same boutique oreat at the same dinerhence the group in Groupon.

　　高朋網的價值評估一直充滿爭議。該企業憑借將一個簡單概念化為搖錢樹的本事，被許多熱心的崇拜者標榜為史上發展得最快的公司。顧客可以通過簽約來獲得當地商家的優惠價格。高朋網則往這個過程中添油加醋，例如，在期限前若未達到最低訂購人數，本優惠將會失效，此舉便能激勵顧客不斷地催促朋友去購買同一件衣服，或者在同一家餐館進餐這就是高朋網所謂的團購。

　　The firm typically keeps roughly half of the money that customers fork out, with the rest goingto the businesses that actually supply the goods and services. Last year its revenues were$713m. In the first quarter of 2011 it took in a breathtaking $645m. Although Groupon is lessthan three years old, it operates in 43 countries and has no fewer than 83m subscribers.

　　高朋網通常將大約一半的消費者付款納入囊中，將剩下的部分交給實際提供了商品或服務的商家手中。去年其歲入高達7.13億美元，而僅2011年頭三個月的進賬就達到了驚人的6.45億美元。盡管高朋網誕生才不到3年，它的業務已經涵蓋43個國家，團客多達 8300萬人。

　　The snag is that the company is still bleeding red ink. It lost $390m in 2010 and $103m in thefirst quarter of this year. Critics find this alarming. Groupon retorts that it is simply spendingheavily to scoop up subscribers while the market it created is in its infancy. In its IPOprospectus, it urges investors to focus on other measures, such as free cashflow , which was positive last year, and the arcane-soundingadjusted consolidated segment operating income, which excludes such things as cash spenton online marketing.

　　該公司的頑疾在于血淋淋的財政赤字。2010年損失為3.9億美元，而本年度頭三個月就虧損了1.03億美元。批評家認為這個現象值得敲響警鐘，但高朋網反駁說這片新開創的市場尚處發展初期，赤字僅是源于招攬團客所需的大筆開銷。高朋網的公開招股說明書鼓勵投資者將注意力集中在其他指標上，例如在去年顯示出盈利的自由現金流，以及聽上去晦澀難懂的調整綜合區運營收入，其實就是除去諸如網絡營銷等開支后的財務數字。

　　The path to success will have twists and turns,moments of brilliance and other moments of sheerstupidity. Knowing that this will at times be a bumpyride, we thank you for considering joining us, writesGroupons boss, Andrew Mason, in a letter topotential stockholders. Not everyone is reassured.

　　成功之路蜿蜒曲折，路上光景，光輝燦爛抑或愚蠢十足。我們知道路途難免顛簸起伏，為此感謝你考慮加入我們。高朋網的總裁，安德魯?馬森在一封獻給未來股東的信件中如是寫道。但這并不能讓每個人都感到內心踏實。

　　How should one value a money-losing firm in a newindustry? PwC, a consultancy, ranks web firms according to their value per user. This iscalculated by dividing a start-ups estimated worth by the number of its users.

　　那我們該如何評估新興產業中的虧損企業呢?普華永道咨詢事務所將新興創業公司的預估價值除以其用戶的數量，計算出企業的每用戶價值，并根據該指標來對網絡企業進行排名。

　　By this benchmark, Groupon scores well, just below Facebook and Renren, a Chinese socialnetwork with a listing in America . But such measures do not reflect the risks ofGroupons model. The company may boast 83m users, but only 16m have actually bought aGroupon. Its success outside America has been patchy: just 9% of its subscribers in Londonhave ever bought anything from it.

　　按照每用戶價值的標準，高朋網的得分相當可觀，僅次于臉譜網和人人網。但這樣的基準并不能反映高朋網這個案例中的風險。高朋網吹噓自己擁有8300萬名用戶，但其中真正買過單的只有1600萬人。該公司在美國國外的業績更是良莠不齊：以倫敦為例，僅有9%的團客在高朋網上購買過東西。

　　Facebook enjoys a powerful network effect; Groupon, less so. It must spend a fortune tokeep signing up new subscribers. Hence its keenness to steer investors towards a measurethat excludes marketing costs. Groupons growth has attracted big competitors such asLivingSocial as well as a host of smaller start-ups. These rivals could poach its users withcheaper deals. And they could offer retailers better terms, too, in the process threateningGroupons fat margins.

　　臉譜網擁有強大的社群效應，這方面高朋網則遜色一籌。高朋網必須花費大筆錢財來不停地吸引新團客加入其中，正因如此，它才拼命地將投資者的注意力引到除去了營銷收入的財務指標之上。高朋網在崛起的同時也誘生了強大的競爭對手Living Social和一群規模較小的新興企業。這些競爭對手可能會以更低廉的價格挖走客戶，也可能向零售商開出更優惠的條件，無一不對高朋網口中的肥肉構成威脅。

　　All this shows why setting an offering price for shares in an IPO is so tricky. Its more an artthan a science, says Paul Bard of Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm in America.Investment banks are supposed to be masters of that art. But some people, such as PeterThiel, a big early investor in Facebook and LinkedIn, have accused the banks involved in theLinkedIn transaction of drastically underpricing the shares.

　　以上種種，均說明了首次公開募股的報價是一門微妙的學問，與其說是科學，不如說是藝術，美國IPO研究機構復興資本公司的保羅?巴德如此說道。投資銀行向來被視為是這門藝術的行家，但包括臉譜和人脈網的主要早期投資者彼得?席爾在內的一些人，都對投資銀行參與到人脈網的股票交易，將股票發行價大幅壓低而詬病不已。

　　Bankers have sometimes been accused of underpricing deals so that their investment clientscan make a swift killing on a firms shares. However in this case Mr Thiels gripe was that thebanks failed to appreciate LinkedIns tremendous potential. Perhaps it never occurred to thebankers involved that people would pay so much for such a risky stock.

　　投資銀行家有時會被指責刻意壓低交易價格，以便其投資客戶從購買的企業股票中大發橫財。然而席爾先生的矛頭這次僅針對投資銀行未能意識到人脈網的巨大潛力。或許原因在于，參與投資的銀行家永遠都不會想到，人們竟然會為了這家風險重重的股票投入如此多的金錢。

　　Yet there is something to be said for erring on the side of caution when setting initial offerprices. Elizabeth Demers, a professor at INSEAD, a business school near Paris, points out thatwhat companies lose in terms of hard cash in the early days can often be made up for in termsof the publicity they get when the news media applaud the explosive rise in their shareprices. They can also launch secondary issues of other shares at the new price established bythe IPO. Unless, of course, this really is a bubble, and it bursts.

　　在首次公開募股報價的時候，出于謹慎的考量而犯點錯誤是情有可原的。歐洲管理事務學院的伊麗莎白?德默斯教授指出，企業創業早期在現金上的損失，通常能在日后資訊媒體對其股價爆發式增長的宣傳和推崇中得到補償。當然，除非IPO只是一個要破滅的泡沫，企業也可以在首次公開募股建立的股價基礎上再次發行證劵。