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Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by mbesto on Thursday September 19, 2019 @02:31PM (#21019100)
1) Impending recession

2) Not enough IPOs so lots of investor interest to deploy capital into something( (thus driving up the price, making it more attractive for startups)

3) We're near the end of a 7~10 year cycle where lots of private VC capital was deployed and needs to be returned

4) 500 private investor maximum SEC rule

Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by chrononaut on Thursday September 19, 2019 @08:06PM (#21022018)
Wouldn't an impending recession be particularly impactful on their business? I mean, if I had to buy stock now with knowledge that an impending down market is guaranteed I don't think it would be in the hospitality industry, unless I overestimate how much that industry is influenced by recessions.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by theflyinghorse on Thursday September 19, 2019 @03:03PM (#21019463)
Could you elaborate a bit on the cycle part. Why is it a cycle at all assuming money gets invested all the time instead of once-a-x-years?
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by mdorazio on Thursday September 19, 2019 @07:40PM (#21021845)
Simplifying a lot, but...

VC companies themselves raise money from investors to create a fund, which is then used to invest in startups. Generally, funds are raised with a specific timeline pitch for returns to the investors - often 7-10 years. In order to return money to investors, the investments in the fund have to actually pay money back to the VC firm - the best way to do this is via IPO (although acquisition is also an option).

Due to overall market conditions, a glut of investment happened in the VC space 7-8 years ago (i.e. a bunch of funds were started), and those funds now need to get money back to the investors to prove a nice ROI, so there's a push to get the startups that were funded by the fund to exit one way or another.

Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by mbesto on Thursday September 19, 2019 @07:22PM (#21021717)
When a VC raises a fund, they usually try to return the money in 7~10 years after they start deploying the capital to startups. In other words, they want to exit their position no later than 10 years and usually shoot for 5~7.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by jimbob45 on Thursday September 19, 2019 @03:17PM (#21019616)
Not that dude but ~11 years ago was the recession so I'm guessing he's alluding to the fact that lots of investment money comes out of hibernation all at once when recessions begin to recede.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by pmart123 on Thursday September 19, 2019 @03:56PM (#21020052)
The best place to learn about this is to check out the memos Howard Marks has written over the years.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by oarabbus_ on Thursday September 19, 2019 @06:03PM (#21021176)
>1) Impending recession

Eh I have heard this for the last 5 years

Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by mbesto on Thursday September 19, 2019 @07:24PM (#21021734)
Look, say what you want, but nearly everyone in the finance community (public equities, private equity, etc) knows this is coming. You're right, it's impossible to know when exactly, but there's hardly any doubt it's coming soonTM.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by oarabbus_ on Friday September 20, 2019 @02:02AM (#21023682)
But everyone in the finance community has been saying that loudly since mid 2017 when we reached an 8 year bull market. As they say, economists have predicted 12 of the last 5 recessions.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by asdff on Friday September 20, 2019 @04:16AM (#21024329)
Things are even more shaky now with the trade war and the fed. SP500 has been plateauing since April.
Re:Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Co... by nicksantamaria on Thursday September 19, 2019 @07:23PM (#21021726)
At least now there’s a bond yield inversion to give the prediction some substance.