Internet IPO Metrics 
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 5, 2018
As a reminder, the Dot Com bubble was a five-year period from August 1995 (the Netscape IPO ) when there was a massive wave of experiments on the then-new internet, in commerce, entertainment, nascent social media, and search. IPOs dried up. Then the cycle repeats with a new set of technologies. Then one day it was over.
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 11, 2022
The browser and thus the WWW and the first Internet businesses were born circa 1994–95 and there was a golden period where anything seemed possible. And then in the late 90’s money crept in, swept in to town by public markets, instant wealth and an absurd sky-rocketing of valuations based on no reasonable metrics. It was 1991.
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Startup Lessons Learned
DECEMBER 23, 2009
Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Why vanity metrics are dangerous In a previous post, I defined two kinds of metrics: vanity metrics and actionable metrics. In this post, Id like to talk about the perils of vanity metrics. My personal favorite vanity metrics is "hits."
Both Sides of the Table
DECEMBER 27, 2011
I find it amusing when a journalist writes an article about a prominent startup (either privately held or preparing for an IPO) and decries that, “They’re not even profitable!” Internet scale. In many Internet startups 80% of the operating costs will be people. One of them is profitability. Growth matters.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009
On top of all this it was considered very bad form not to have at least four additional consecutive quarters of profits after an IPO.) The IPO Bubble – August 1995 – March 2000 In August 1995 Netscape went public, and the world of start ups turned upside down. Tech acquisitions went crazy at the same time the IPO market did.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 24, 2017
— Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. In the 20th century tech companies and their investors made money through an Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Both Sides of the Table
MAY 23, 2012
In an over-funding environment companies are encouraged to eschew revenues in a land grab to acquire eyeballs, clicks, page views or whatever other vanity metrics give VCs the false comfort that they’re sitting on a gold mine. IPO markets had burned an entire cycle of retail stock investors and many institutional investors to boot.
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