I conducted more than 150 interviews for this book. Most sources were granted anonymity so that they could speak openly. About 30 of the 150 interviews were done on the record during the course of reporting, though not all of those conversations ended up in the book.
These are the books I relied upon:
The Apple Revolution: The Real Story of How Steve Jobs and the Crazy Ones Took Over the World, Luke Dormehl, 2012.
Blood on the Street: The Sensational Inside Story of How Wall Street Analysts Duped a Generation of Investors, Charles Gasparino, 2005.
Capital Markets Handbook, Sixth Edition, John C. Burch Jr. and Bruce S. Foerster, 2004.
The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America, Margaret O’Mara, 2019.
A Critical History of Financial Crises: Why Would Politicians and Regulators Spoil Financial Giants?, Haim Kedar-Levy, 2015.
eBoys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work, Randall E. Stross, 2000.
The Golden Voyage: The Life and Times of William Bingham, 1752–1804, Robert C. Alberts, 1969.
In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, Steven Levy, 2011.
Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, William D. Cohan, 2011.
Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America’s Eyeballs, Gina Keating, 2012.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, 2020.
The Partnership: The Making of Goldman Sachs, Charles D. Ellis, 2008.
The Prince of Silicon Valley: Frank Quattrone and the Dot-Com Bubble, Randall Smith, 2010.
The Spotify Play: How CEO and Founder Daniel Ek Beat Apple, Google, and Amazon in the Race for Audio Dominance, Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud, 2021.
Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson, 2011.
Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber, Mike Isaac, 2019.
That Will Never Work: The Birth of Netflix and the Amazing Life of an Idea, Marc Randolph, 2019.
Wall Street: A History, Fourth Edition, Charles R. Geisst, 2018.
1 Jobs had been preparing: Marilyn Chase, “Apple Computer Registers Its First Offer, of 4.5 Million Shares at $14 to $17 Apiece,” Wall Street Journal, November 7, 1980.
2 Apple’s bankers finally decided: Robert J. Cole, “An ‘Orderly’ Debut for Apple,” New York Times, December 13, 1980.
3 played up the offering’s success: Mike Johnson, “Wall St. Gets Bite of Apple: $22 to $28.75,” San Francisco Examiner, December 12, 1980.
1 An energetic man: Andrew Pollack, “Hambrecht & Quist Loses Its Edge,” New York Times, March 31, 1985.
2 started in a Palo Alto garage: “A home for innovation” brochure, HP Corporate Archives, December 2012.
3 soon raised $1 million: Susie Gharib Nazem, “The Folks Who Brought You Apple,” Fortune, January 1981.
4 a friend to the Ford family: “The Power of Relationships Fuels Historic Ford Motor Company IPO,” goldmansachs.com.
5 secured the lead: Records held by author.
6 “never before in the history”: “Ford Stock Offering Price Set; Announcement Is Due at 9 A.M.,” New York Times, January 17, 1956.
7 markets had begun to change: Ellen Terrell, “History of the American and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges,” Library of Congress, October 2012.
8 christened the region: Don C. Hoeffler, “Silicon Valley U.S.A.,” Electronic News, January 11, 1971.
1 wrap up the IPO: Robert J. Cole, “Genentech, New Issue, Up Sharply,” New York Times, October 15, 1980.
2 shares quickly surged by: Charles J. Elia, “Genentech’s Final Prospectus Shows Revenue Comes Primarily from Health-Care-Firm Jobs,” Wall Street Journal, October 16, 1980.
3 “Not since Eve has an Apple”: Marilyn Chase, “Apple Computer Registers Its First Offer, of 4.5 Million Shares at $14 to $17 Apiece,” Wall Street Journal, November 7, 1980.
4 three regional firms patterned: Michael Blumstein, “New Issues: Market Slumps,” New York Times, September 19, 1984.
5 promoted to oversee a banking unit: Leslie Picker, “Alibaba IPO Grew Out of ’80s Chaos and Guy from Goldman,” Bloomberg News, May 10, 2014.
6 won the job of advising: Goldman Sachs, “Goldman Sachs Advises the British Government in the Country’s Largest Privatization Yet,” GoldmanSachs.com.
1 guidelines that sought: Telis Demos, “IPO Quiet Time: Banks Can’t Let Go,” Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2012.
2 internet economy was just so new: Molly Baker and Joan Rigdon, “Netscape’s IPO Gets an Explosive Welcome: SMALL STOCK FOCUS,” Wall Street Journal, August 9, 1995.
3 More than one hundred thousand people: Reed Abelson, “Boston Beer: The Sad Fall of an I.P.O. Open to All,” New York Times, November 24, 1996.
1 team’s depth came into question: Tim Povtak, “Depth Problems May Sink Gators,” Orlando Sentinel, March 17, 1988.
2 followed his sister: Barry Ritholz, “Masters in Business: Bill Gurley, Benchmark,” Bloomberg Opinion podcast, March 20, 2021.
3 In early 1997, he downgraded: “Netscape Stock Falls Again,” CNET, January 14, 1997.
4 priced its shares at $18: Ari Levy, “Even During Amazon’s IPO Process 20 Years Ago, Jeff Bezos Was Obsessed with Details,” CNBC.com, May 14, 2017.
5 Bear Stearns was much more cavalier: Matt Siegel, “How Did Bear Stearns Bag So Many Net IPOs,” Fortune, May 10, 1999.
6 put a $400 price target on: “A $400 Target Gives Amazon an Even Bigger Push Skyward,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 1998.
7 a technique called a Dutch auction: Sally Smith Hughes, Interviews with William R. Hambrecht in 2010, 2011.
8 the third such effort: Edward Wyatt, “Goldman Sachs to Take Stake in Wit Capital,” New York Times, March 30, 1999.
9 sent out mailers intended to provoke: Lisa Bransten and Nick Wingfield, “Hambrecht Serves Little Guy, Tweaks the Big Guy, Online,” Wall Street Journal, February 8, 1999.
10 disrupt Wall Street’s allocation process: Jack Reerink, “W.R. Hambrecht to start selling IPOs via Internet,” Reuters, February 8, 1999.
11 would get his first opportunity: Lorna Sheridan, “‘End of an Era’: Sonoma’s Ravenswood Tasting Room to Close,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, April 25, 2019.
12 charged the winery: Jack Willoughby, “Offerings in the Offing: New Wine, New Bottle; The ’Net Widens IPO Access,” Barron’s, April 19, 1999.
13 sell all one million shares: Dana Nigro, “Ravenswood Raises $11 Million Through Public Offering,” Wine Spectator, April 10, 1999.
1 partnership came to an end: “In a Paradigm Shift, Goldman Sachs Decides to Go Public,” https://www.goldmansachs.com/our-firm/history/moments/1999-ipo.html.
2 Few bankers personified the excesses: Randall Smith and Susan Pulliam, “How Quattrone’s CSFB Unit Doled Out Shares of Hot IPOs,” Wall Street Journal, September 23, 2002.
3 Dechman sent an email to some colleagues: Joe Nocera, “Rigging the I.P.O. Game,” New York Times, March 9, 2013.
4 take a “fresh look”: Securities and Exchange Commission, “SEC vs. Jack Benjamin Grubman,” April 28, 2003.
5 a higher form of liability: Raymond Hennessey and Phyllis Plitch, “In IPO Scandal, Issuers Are Held Solely to Account,” Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2005.
6 busy propping up: Suzanne McGee, “Hambrecht Continues to Buy Stock of Ravenswood Well After the IPO,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 1999.
7 burning through their cash reserves: Jack Willoughby, “Burning Up,” Barron’s, March 20, 2000.
8 reached a settlement: “Terence Neilan and Kenneth N. Gilpin, “Merrill Lynch to Pay $100 Million to Settle Analyst Charges,” New York Times, May 21, 2002.
9 Quattrone’s empire crumbled: Anupreeta Das and Randall Smith, “Quattrone Revisits ‘Friends,’” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2011.
10 A Frontline documentary: Martin Smith and Saran Silver, “Dot Con,” PBS Frontline, January 24, 2002.
11 might be an answer to the excesses of the past: Nick Wingfield, “Effort to Use Dutch Auctions to Distribute IPOs Struggles,” Wall Street Journal, July 31, 2002.
1 wasn’t the first search engine: Kevin J. Delaney and Robin Sidel, “Google IPO Aims to Change the Rules,” Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2004.
2 Google’s “official lug-nut checker”: Adam Lashinsky, “Google Finds a Good Analyst,” Fortune, May 12, 2003.
3 brushed off IPO talk: “Google CEO Has No Near Term Plans for IPO,” Reuters, May 5, 2003.
4 Brin told another conference: “Google Co-Founder Sees ‘Good Chance’ of Future IPO,” Reuters, August 20, 2003.
5 capture the public’s imagination: Bret Swanson, “Our Savior?,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2003.
6 an updated prospectus showing: Jed Horowitz and Raymond Hennessey, “Google’s IPO Will Be Including 31 Underwriters,” Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2004.
7 lead underwriters also required: “Google’s IPO Hurdles,” Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2004.
8 Peter Thiel joined CNBC: Larry Kudlow and Jim Cramer, “Interview: Peter Thiel Discusses the Upcoming Google IPO,” Kudlow & Cramer, CNBC, July 27, 2004.
9 visited New York’s Waldorf Astoria: Gregory Zuckerman and Robin Sidel, “Google’s Roadshow Leaves Investors Searching for Data,” Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2004.
10 PR team received word: Kevin J. Delaney, Gregory Zuckerman, and Robin Sidel, “Google Interview May Set Back IPO; Auction Starts Today,” Wall Street Journal, August 13, 2004.
11 felt the need to seek out: Robin Sidel, “Google IPO Tests Theories on Auctions,” Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2004.
12 Google told shareholders: “Google Update,” Wall Street Journal, August 18, 2004.
13 each received 5.3 million to allocate: “Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Get Most Shares in Google IPO,” Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2004.
14 “feeling particularly lucky”: Gregory Zuckerman, “Google Shares Prove Big Winners—For a Day,” Wall Street Journal, August 20, 2004.
15 a narrative began to take hold: Kevin J. Delaney and Robin Sidel, “How Miscalculations and Hubris Hobbled Celebrated Google IPO,” Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2004.
16 moved all over the place: Riva Richmond, “Google’s Stock: Up, Down And All Around,” Dow Jones Newswires, November 11, 2004.
17 lack of projections: Kevin J. Delaney, “Will Google Finally Reveal Itself?,” Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2004.
18 Reyes, Google’s CFO, misspoke: Kevin J. Delaney, “Google Warning on Growth Unnerves Investors,” Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2006
1 “leave your friends in a knife fight”: Greg Sandoval, “Why Netflix’s CFO Decided to Go,” CNET, December 9, 2010.
2 ready for something else: Greg Sandoval, “Netflix’s Lost Year: The Inside Story of the Price-Hike Train Wreck,” CNET, July 11, 2012.
3 headline at Business Insider said it all: Dan Frommer, “Netflix CFO Leaves Because He Can’t Become CEO,” Business Insider, December 7, 2010.
4 inviting 350 contacts to set up profiles: Colleen DeBaise, “Launching LinkedIn from a Living Room,” Wall Street Journal, October 21, 2009.
5 left many shaking their heads: Henry Blodget, “Anyone Who Still Thinks LinkedIn’s IPO Pop Was Good Should Look at Amazon,” Business Insider, May 31, 2011.
6 doubling the price: Julianna Pepitone and David Goldman, “Pandora Stock Surges in IPO, Then Cools,” CNN Money, June 15, 2011.
7 a group of eighteen experts convened: James Freeman, “Kate Mitchell: How Silicon Valley Won in Washington,” Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2012.
8 “whose input and expertise”: IPO Task Force, “Rebuilding the IPO On-Ramp: Putting Emerging Companies and the Job Market Back on the Road to Growth,” Presented to The U.S. Department of the Treasury, October 20, 2011, Appendix B, 35.
9 “test the waters” conversations: Emily Chasan, “JOBS Act Obscures IPO Pipeline,” Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2012.
10 well into its IPO process: Shayndi Raice, “Facebook Targets Huge IPO,” Wall Street Journal, November 29, 2011.
11 a way to avoid tripping: Steven Davidoff Solomon, “The Legal Issues in the Goldman-Facebook Deal,” New York Times DealBook, January 10, 2011.
12 threw a wrench into its offering: Khadeeja Safdar, “Facebook, One Year Later: What Really Happened in the Biggest IPO Flop Ever,” The Atlantic, May 10, 2013.
13 took steps to spell out the implications: Suzanne Craig and Ben Protess, “Massachusetts Fines Morgan Stanley Over Facebook I.P.O.,” New York Times DealBook, December 17, 2012.
14 rehearsed with a senior Morgan Stanley banker: David Benoit, “Mass vs. Morgan Stanley: Highlights from the Facebook Consent Order,” Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2012.
15 media outlets widely reported: Aaron Luchetti and Jean Eaglesham, “Morgan Stanley Gets Facebook Fine,” Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2012.
16 failed to trade thousands of orders: Chris Welch, “Facebook IPO ‘Was Not Our Finest Hour,’ Says NASDAQ Chief,” The Verge, May 20, 2012.
17 $10 million fine for NASDAQ: Nathaniel Popper, “Nasdaq Is Fined $10 Million Over Mishandled Facebook Public Offering,” New York Times DealBook, May 29, 2013.
18 an influx of cash: Michael J. Mauboussin and Dan Callahan, CFA, “Public to Private Equity in the United States: A Long-Term Look,” Morgan Stanley Investment Management, August 4, 2020.
1 social media company partnered: Alex Pham, “Spotify Music Service Coming ‘Soon’ to U.S.,” Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2011.
2 In 2013, Technology Crossover Ventures: John D. Stoll, Evelyn Rusli, and Sven Grundberg, “Spotify Hits a High Note: Valuation Tops $4 Billion,” Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2013.
3 Spotify announced McCarthy’s appointment: Pater Kafka, “Former Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy Joins Spotify Board,” Recode, February 11, 2014.
4 a rare blunder: Alyson Shontell, “A SILICON VALLEY DISASTER: A 21-Year-Old Stanford Kid Got $30 Million, Then Everything Blew Up,” Business Insider, April 14, 2014.
1 companies had been christened: Aileen Lee, “Welcome to the Unicorn Club: Learning from Billion-Dollar Startups,” TechCrunch, November 2, 2013.
2 Spotify put up impressive growth: Ben Sisario, “Spotify Says Its List of Subscribers Has Grown to 15 Million,” New York Times, January 12, 2015.
3 turned to Goldman Sachs: Ben Sisario and Andrew Ross Sorkin, “Spotify Attracts Investments from Coca-Cola and Fidelity,” New York Times, November 14, 2012.
4 publicly removed her catalog: Hannah Karp and Sven Grundberg, “Taylor Swift Pulls Her Music from Spotify,” Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2015.
5 reports surfaced: Douglas MacMillan and Telis Demos, “Spotify Nears Deal to Raise $400 Million at $8.4 Billion Valuation,” Wall Street Journal, April 10, 2015.
6 hiring was a sign: Douglas MacMillan, “Spotify Names Barry McCarthy Finance Chief,” Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2015.
7 remembered those early days: Polina Marinova, “Spotify’s First Investor On Why the Company’s Unusual IPO Makes Sense,” Fortune, March 21, 2018.
8 news of the convertible bond: Douglas MacMillan, Matt Jarzemsky, and Maureen Farrell, “Spotify Raises $1 Billion in Debt Financing,” Wall Street Journal, March 29, 2015.
9 explain senior management’s thinking: Record held by author.
1 Many in the industry agreed: Joe Nocera, “Was LinkedIn Scammed?,” New York Times, May 20, 2011.
2 new general counsel: Ina Fried, “Spotify Taps Top Microsoft Lawyer Horacio Gutierrez as General Counsel,” Recode, March 14, 2016.
3 decided against taking the position: Lucas Shaw, “Spotify’s Top Lawyer Has Spent Years Making Apple the Bad Guy,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 14, 2021.
4 the fundraising environment: Richard Waters and Leslie Hook, “Death of the Unicorn?,” Financial Times, June 28, 2016.
5 directly listed a division: “VMware Shares Soar After IPO Prices at $29 a Share,” Reuters, August 14, 2007.
6 tech executives had soured on it: Crystal Tse, Katie Roof, and Olivia Carville, “Airbnb Chooses IPO Venue in Big Win for Nasdaq Over NYSE,” Bloomberg News, October 27, 2020.
7 host of a star-studded summer conference: Douglas MacMillan and Telis Demos, “Allen & Co. Flourishes as a Tech Deal Maker,” Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2014.
1 first speech as SEC chair: Jay Clayton speech, Economic Club of New York, YouTube, July 12, 2017.
2 worked with the SEC: Lucas Shaw, “SEC Is Studying Spotify’s Plan to Bypass IPO in NYSE Listing,” Bloomberg News, August 21, 2017.
3 a strategy for expanding into China: Wayne Ma, “Music-Streaming Giants Spotify and Tencent Music Swap Stakes,” Wall Street Journal, December 13, 2017.
4 arranging for a share swap: “Taking the Lead in the Future of Music,” goldmansachs.com.
5 signed a lease: Steve Cuozzo and Lois Weiss, “Spotify Signs Massive Lease at 4 World Trade Center,” New York Post, February 15, 2017.
6 something more than a typical: Anita Balakrishnan, “Chicken Wraps, Cuff Links and Cloud: The Details from Snap’s IPO Roadshow in NYC,” CNBC.com, February 21, 2017.
7 opened the event: “Investor Day—March 2018,” Spotify.com, March 15, 2018.
8 brought a good luck charm: Nicole Bullock, “Trader Who Has Waited His Entire Career for an Uber IPO,” Financial Times, May 8, 2019.
9 Paci was well suited: Dakin Campbell, “A Morgan Stanley Trading Desk Headed Up by a Former NFL Quarterback Will Play a Central Role in Palantir’s and Asana’s Public Debuts. Here’s an Inside Look at How It’ll All Go Down,” Business Insider, September 28, 2020.
10 wasn’t going to make a big deal: Sean Czarnecki, “No Bell-Ringing, No Problem: A Look at Spotify’s Unusually Transparent IPO,” PRWeek, April 5, 2018.
11 he hunched over: Records held by author.
12 drifted lower to close: Theodore Schleifer and Rani Molla, “Spotify’s First Day of Trading Ended Up Being Surprisingly Normal—And That’s a Win for the Direct Listing,” Recode, April 3, 2018.
1 he traveled to Sun Valley: David Gura, “Here’s a Peek Inside Sun Valley’s ‘Summer Camp for Billionaires,’” NPR, August 20, 2021.
2 an exclusive ticket: Carol J. Loomis and Patricia Neering, “Inside the Private World of Allen & Co. Putting a Premium on Personal Ties, This Family Firm Thrives in the Land of the Giants,” Fortune, June 28, 2004.
3 a one-sentence mention: Michael J. de la Merced, “As Moguls Gather in Sun Valley, Here’s Who Might Be in the Mood for Deals,” New York Times, July 10, 2018.
4 cut from a different cloth: Adam Bryant, “Stewart Butterfield of Slack: Is Empathy on Your Résumé?,” New York Times, July 11, 2015.
5 an unusual perspective: George Anders, “Revenge of the Philosophy Majors,” Forbes, September 3, 2015.
6 Slack had grown quickly: Rachel Feintzeig, “A Company Without Email? Not So Fast,” New York Times, June 17, 2014.
7 doubled its number of users: Farhad Manjoo, “Slack, the Office Messaging App That May Finally Sink Email,” New York Times, March 11, 2015.
8 “went into hyper-drive”: Evelyn M. Rusli, “Startup Values Set Records,” Wall Street Journal, December 29, 2014.
9 doubled its valuation: Deborah Gage, “Slack Investment and Valuation Gains Come Despite Private Company Jitters,” Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2016; Farhad Manjoo, “Is Slack Really Worth $2.8 Billion? A Conversation with Stewart Butterfield,” New York Times, April 16, 2015.
10 raised another $200 million: Mike Isaac, “Slack, a Leading Unicorn, Raises $200 Million in New Financing,” New York Times, April 1, 2016.
11 soon attracted competitors: Salvador Rodriguez, “Slack Adds 1 Million Paying Users Amid Increasing Competition,” Reuters, May 8, 2018.
12 a broadside against Slack: Salvador Rodriguez, “Microsoft Debuts Free Tier in Competitive Workplace Chat App Market,” Reuters, July 12, 2018.
13 told media outlets: Alex Konrad, “Microsoft Doesn’t Take Slack’s Bait in Unveiling Rival ‘Teams’ Product—But Poses a Real Threat,” Forbes, November 2, 2016.
14 “paranoid about this”: Rachel King, “Slack Girds for Battle with Messaging Rivals,” Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2016.
15 yet another fundraising: Katie Roof, “Slack Nears Close of Financing Round at $7 Billion Valuation,” Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2018.
16 considering a stock market listing: Maureen Farrell, “Slack Actively Preparing for Early 2019 IPO,” Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2018.
17 didn’t need the money: Eliot Brown, “Boss Talk: Slack’s CEO Wants to Unshackle You from Email,” Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2018.
1 filed paperwork with the SEC: Greg Bensinger and Maureen Farrell, “Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors,” Wall Street Journal, December 7, 2018.
2 thirty-eight tech companies: Corrie Driebusch, “Tech Unicorns Are Going Public at Near-Record Pace,” Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2018.
3 put it colorfully: John D. Stoll, “How to Govern the Unicorns,” Wall Street Journal, December 21, 1980.
4 among thousands of government employees: Aaron Back, “Why the IPO Boom Will Continue,” Wall Street Journal, May 19, 2019.
5 suggested for the first time: Maureen Farrell, “Slack Plans to Follow Spotify on Unconventional IPO Route,” Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2019.
6 back-of-the-envelope math: Jennifer Saba, “Slack Is the Tech Everybody Likes but No One Needs,” Reuters, January 17, 2019.
7 ran with the headline: Richard Waters, “Slack Faces Growing Challenge from Big Tech,” Financial Times, January 26, 2019.
8 started interviewing banks: Maureen Farrell and Dana Mattioli, “Peloton Interviews Banks for IPO,” Wall Street Journal, February 11, 2019.
9 revenue in the twelve months through January: “Slack Posts $140.7 Mln Loss in FY 2019 as It Prepares to Go Public,” Reuters, April 26, 2019.
10 calculations conducted by: Chris Nuttall, “Uber Sets Price Range, Slack Goes Direct,” Financial Times, April 26, 2019.
11 two classes of stock: Corrie Driebusch and Maureen Farrell, “Slack Chooses NYSE for Direct Listing,” Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2019.
12 streamed to the internet: Laura Forman, “Will Slack Be Another Shocker?,” Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2019.
13 published its reference price: Corrie Driebusch and Maureen Farrell, “Slack’s Reference Price Set at $26 for Thursday Trading Debut in Direct Listing,” Wall Street Journal, June 19, 2019.
14 sat down for an interview: Andrew Ross Sorkin, Interview with Stewart Butterfield, Squawk Box, CNBC, June 20, 2019.
15 that afternoon they hit $42: Richard Waters, “Slack Valued at More Than $20bn in Stock Market Debut,” Financial Times, June 20, 2019.
1 priced its shares at $15: Lauren Thomas and Lauren Hirsch, “Stitch Fix Shares Retreat After IPO Pop, Close at $15.15,” CNBC.com, November 17, 2017.
2 disappointing performance was captured: Corrie Driebusch and Maureen Farrell, “Stitch Fix Prices Shares at $15 Apiece in IPO,” Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2017.
3 took responsibility: Nick Bastone, “The Search Tech Company Powering Uber and Tinder Just Went Public—And It Popped Up 94% in Its First Day of Trading,” Business Insider, October 5, 2018.
4 stumbled out of the gate: Joshua Franklin, Aparajita Saxena, and Heather Somerville, “Uber’s Market Debut Sours Most Anticipated IPO Since Facebook,” Reuters, May 10, 2019.
5 whether Uber would ever turn a profit: “Uber’s Problem Is Whether It Can Be Profitable, Says Recode’s Kara Swisher,” CNBC, May 10, 2019.
6 Gurley now had reason: @bgurley (Bill Gurley), “One perspective—CrowdStrike (and other way underpriced deals) are the true definition of a ‘broken’ IPO. The stock was grossly under-priced by over 80%. As there were 20.7mm shares sold, this delta represents $575mm (20.7*27.8) that is absent from the company’s coffers,” Twitter, June 12, 2019.
7 laid the groundwork: @bgurley (Bill Gurley), “If your company is interested in a direct-listing, recommend you call Morgan Stanley. Other banks want to position direct listings as ‘exceptional’ or ‘rare.’ MS believes they are 1) a better mousetrap, and 2) can be used broadly,” Twitter, June 19, 2019.
8 ping-ponged down the corridors: Rebecca Ungarino, “One of the Most Influential VCs in Silicon Valley Told Startups to ‘Call Morgan Stanley’ After Slack’s Successful Direct Listing,” Business Insider, June 21, 2019.
9 published a blog post: Jamie McGurk, “All about Direct Listings,” Andreessen Horowitz, July 2, 2019.
10 harbored a rivalry: Tad Friend, “Tomorrow’s Advance Man,” The New Yorker, May 11, 2015.
11 plan for a daylong symposium: Dan Primack, “VCs Plan Invite-Only Meeting to Promote Direct Listings,” Axios, September 19, 2019.
12 “only Slack was capable”: “Slack Shares Tank After Dismal Forecast,” Reuters, September 5, 2019.
13 pages of the financial press: “Slack: Sells Like Team Spirit,” Financial Times, September 6, 2019; Dan Gallagher, “Slack’s Stock Fall Might Not Be Finished,” Wall Street Journal, September 6, 2019.
14 broke issue when: Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer and Dakin Campbell, “SmileDirectClub’s IPO Was Such a Disaster That the CEO Called Up JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon to Ask What Went Wrong,” Business Insider, September 20, 2019.
15 also worked with design and engineering clients: Stefanos Chen, “How Virtual Reality Is Augmenting Realty,” New York Times, November 8, 2019.
1 Jabal had spoken up: Laura Emily Dunn, “Women in Business Q&A: Kim Jabal, CFO, Weebly,” Huffington Post, February 3, 2017.
2 In the book, Sandberg named Jabal: Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead (New York: Knopf, 2013), 181.
3 She told one interviewer: James Kosur, “17 Highly Successful Executives Explain How They Balance Work and Life,” Business Insider, November 20, 2015.
4 shot up nearly 17 percent: “First Quarter Review and Outlook,” NASDAQ, April 2, 2019.
5 “first notable software company”: Lauren Feiner and Ari Levy, “PagerDuty Pops Nearly 60% in Debut as Tech IPO Market Heats Up,” CNBC.com, April 11, 2019.
6 wrote a scathing op-ed: Michael Moritz, “Investment Banks Are Losing Their Grip on IPOs,” Financial Times, August 18, 2019.
1 received an agenda: @KatieS (Katie Jacobs Stanton), “Grateful for leaders like @bgurley leading the conversation about direct listings. And bonus to do it with great women in venture @janamal @ImChauncey,” Twitter, October 1, 2019.
2 occasionally referred to: @chetanp (Chetan Puttagunta), “In this evening’s notes from @TheRealCarlChi1; folks like Carl and others are working on studying the data around IPOs so that there is better information,” Twitter, July 6, 2020.
3 likened the effect to prospect theory: Tim Loughran and Jay R. Ritter, “Why Don’t Issuers Get Upset about Leaving Money on the Table in IPOs?,” The Review of Financial Studies15, no. 2 (2002): 413–43.
4 sat onstage: @GoldmanSachs (Goldman Sachs), “@Spotify’s Barry McCarthy, @lathamwatkins’ Greg Rodgers & $GS’ Will Connolly discuss the ins and outs of direct listings, plus other innovative paths to going public at #GSPICC,” Twitter, October 4, 2019.
5 Siewert introduced the panelists: Exchanges at Goldman Sachs, “Episode 139: What’s Next for Direct Listings and IPOs?,” Goldmansachs.com, October 11, 2019.
1 “something that’s questionable”: “The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), CEO David Solomon on Q3 2019 Results—Earnings Call Transcript,” Seeking Alpha, October 15, 2019.
2 tried to earn a place: Dana Mattioli, “Wall Street Types Don Yoga Pants and True Religion Jeans to Win Deals,” Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2014.
3 Grimes drove: Maureen Farrell and Liz Hoffman, “Morgan Stanley Banker Is Also an Uber Driver,” Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2018.
4 The bank’s pitch reminded her: Randall Smith, “Quattrone, His Group Work Their Magic at First Boston,” Wall Street Journal, September 24, 1999.
5 filed their proposal: New York Stock Exchange, “SR-NYSE-2019-67,” November 26, 2019.
6 shared the news: @nyse (New York Stock Exchange), “We’re taking the next step today in the evolution of the Direct Listing: This morning we filed a rule change with the SEC to allow companies to raise capital as part of a Direct Listing,” Twitter, November 26, 2019.
7 “would not impose any burden”: Ari Levy, “NYSE Proposes Allowing Companies to Raise Fresh Capital in direct Listings,” CNBC.com, November 26, 2019.
8 rejected the proposal: Alexander Osipovich, “SEC Rejects NYSE Plan to Expand Direct Listings,” Wall Street Journal, December 6, 2019.
9 came out swinging: Christopher A. Iacovella, “Re: Investor Protection Concerns Related to Direct Listings,” American Securities Association letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, December 12, 2019.
10 raising concerns that investors: Jeffrey P. Mahoney, “Re: File Number SR-NYSE-2019-67,” Council of Institutional Investors letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, January 16, 2020.
11 traveled to the SEC: Securities and Exchange Commission, Memorandums about meetings between NYSE officials and Commissioners Elad L. Roisman and Allison Herren Lee, respectively, on January 30, 2020, and January 31, 2020.
12 presented other options: Records held by author.
1 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared: “WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19,” World Health Organization, March 11, 2020.
2 customer base for video games: Noah Smith, “The Giants of the Video Game Industry Have Thrived in the Pandemic. Can the Success Continue?,” Washington Post, May 12, 2020.
3 Executives were seriously considering: Dakin Campbell, “Inside a Failed Attempt to Reinvent the IPO Process with Airbnb and DoorDash,” Business Insider, December 18, 2020.
4 decided to bring a fresh voice: Ben Ashwell, “How Unity Used a Modified Auction to Go Public,” IR Magazine, June 15, 2021.
5 secretly filed its first: Unity Software Inc., Form S-1, Securities and Exchange Commission, May 20, 2020.
1 begun to formulate a theory: John Detrixhe, “The Bonkers IPO Market Has Obscured an Important Innovation for Listings,” Quartz, December 23, 2020.
2 The two sides finally agreed: Unity Software Inc., Form S-1, Securities and Exchange Commission, August 24, 2020.
3 little industry surprise: Danny Crichton, “Sequoia Strikes Gold with Unity’s IPO Filing,” TechCrunch, August 24, 2020.
4 quickly overshadowed that day: Richard Henderson and Richard Waters, “Tech Stock Charge Provides Impetus for Flurry of IPOs,” Financial Times, August 24, 2020.
5 wasn’t an advocate for tearing up: @alexrkonrad (Alex Konrad), “Snowflake’s Slootman agrees with @arampell and @skupor’s essay on IPO demand curves. But the CEO also dismisses the notion that a high volume of first-day trading means hand-picked institutional investors won’t stick around,” Twitter, September 17, 2020.
6 Slootman would later tell Forbes: Alex Konrad, “Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman Talks IPO Pop: Narrative of Lost Billions Is ‘Nonsense Talk,’” Forbes, September 17, 2020.
7 began to build enthusiasm: Eric J. Savitz, “Get Ready for a Crazy Wave of IPOs. Here Are the Ones to Watch,” Barron’s, August 31, 2020.
1 gained a vote of confidence: Alex Rampell and Scott Kupor, “In Defense of the IPO, and How to Improve It,” Andreessen Horowitz, August 28, 2020.
2 signed up two large buyers: Snowflake Inc., Form S-1, Securities and Exchange Commission, September 8, 2020.
3 hadn’t invested in an IPO: Yun Li and Maggie Fitzgerald, “Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Just Made a Fast $800 Million on Snowflake’s Surging IPO,” CNBC.com, September 16, 2020.
4 “so hot it could melt”: Robert Cyran, “Snowflake’s $2.7 Bln IPO Is So Hot It Could Melt,” Breakingviews, Reuters, September 9, 2020.
5 first price range for its offering: Unity Software Inc., Form S-1, Securities and Exchange Commission, September 9, 2020.
6 the most in a week: Antony Currie, “Snowflake-Led IPO Boomlet Puts Hope Over Profit,” Breakingviews, Reuters, September 9, 2020.
7 increased its IPO range substantially: Lauren Feiner, “Snowflake Bumps Expected IPO Price by About 30%, Could Debut at More Than $30 Billion Valuation,” CNBC.com, September 14, 2020.
8 settled on $120: Ari Levy and Leslie Picker, “Snowflake Prices IPO Above Increased Range, Implying Initial Market Cap of $33.3 Billion,” CNBC.com, September 15, 2020.
9 increase the initial range: Alex Wilhelm, “JFrog and Snowflake’s Aggressive IPO Pricing Point to Strong Demand for Cloud Shares,” TechCrunch, September 16, 2020.
10 finally opened the stock: Danny Vena/Motley Fool, “Overwhelming Demand Made Warren Buffett-Backed Snowflake the Biggest Software IPO Ever,” NASDAQ.com, September 16, 2020.
11 broadcast the opening trade: CNBC, “Snowflake Begins Trading in the Biggest Software IPO Ever,” YouTube, September 16, 2020.
12 shrugged off a question: John Fortt, “Snowflake CEO on Record IPO: We’re Not Focused on Growth at All Costs,” CNBC, September 16, 2020.
13 “complete and utter nonsense”: “Buffett-Backed Snowflake’s Value Doubles in Stock Market’s Largest Software Debut,” Reuters, September 16, 2020.
14 “left a lot of money on the table”: Emily Change, “Snowflake CEO ‘Thrilled’ with $73 Billion Valuation,” Bloomberg Television, September 16, 2020.
15 fired off a salvo: @bgurley (Bill Gurley), “Some encouragement to comment on $SNOW IPO. While it would be easy to do normal post wrt mispricing, it is important to understand what is different here from other IPOs. The most important data is broad (40 years of underpricing, 2020 worst year yet), vs. 1 company. [cont],” Twitter, September 16, 2020.
16 he sent a third tweet: @bgurley (Bill Gurley), “Outside of if the company/shareholders ‘gave up’ anything, the hand allocated investors received $4.3B is one day wealth transfer. That’s an insane amount of REAL money. That, along with watching the theatre and drama today, it is HARD to say—this is exactly how it should work!,” Twitter, September 16, 2020.
17 Gurley wasn’t done: @bgurley (Bill Gurley), “In many ways, $SNOW is the final proof of just how broken process is. Frank Slootman is a HIGHLY experienced IPO CEO. He knows the game, & pushed hard to make sure he wasn’t short-changing the company. But it didn’t matter, because the process is set up to deliver this silliness,” Twitter, September 16, 2020.
1 Twelve days after the IPO: WhaleWisdom.com; Artisan Partners Limited Partnership, Form 13F, Securities and Exchange Commission, November 12, 2020; Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC, Form 13F, Securities and Exchange Commission, November 16, 2020.
2 had something special planned: Ryan Peterson, “Ringing the NYSE Bell Together: How Unity Put the ‘U’ in UPO,” Unity, November 5, 2020.
3 wearing an open-necked black shirt: CNBC, “Unity CEO on IPO: We’re Thrilled with the Money We’ve Raised,” YouTube, September 18, 2020.
4 stock price drifted down: C Nivedita and Krystal Hu, “Unity Software Soars in Blockbuster NYSE Debut,” Reuters, September 18, 2020.
5 put the recent innovations in context: Corrie Driebusch, “The IPO Market Parties Like It’s 1999,” Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2020.
6 one late September screed: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “Equity Dutch auctions were designed to democratize initial public offerings. In 2014, I founded @ARKInvest to help democratize investing in the innovation space. Despite best intentions, this week $U went public in a Dutch auction sponsored by $GS that we believe missed the mark,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
7 added a second tweet: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “Some of us who placed bids above the initial 40-44 indicated range, and then raised our bids above the revised 44-48 range, assuming that our bids would be filled, learned the hard way that we would receive nothing. Very few things surprise me in this business, but this one did,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
8 Her third tweet: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “Apparently, $GS introduced a Dutch auction twist that did not require it to inform those who had committed to a price above the ‘range’ that the range had changed, unless the ‘indicated price range’ had increased by 20%+. Excuse me?,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
9 It sounded to her: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “I am sure that $GS disclosed this twist in many documents, but it never apprised us despite discussions with its sales traders of our clear desire to gain exposure to $U. Did $GS’s highest revenue generating customers get the word? I don’t want to be in that club. Just wondering,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
10 Later that day: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “I stand corrected: $U did a Unified auction, not a Dutch auction, something completely new to me. With thanks both to my compliance team and to a long time professional friend, Lise Buyer, Partner at Class V Group LLC, for steering me correctly,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
11 apologized to Goldman: @CathieDWood (Cathie Wood), “With my apology to $GS, which was not monitoring the order book before it filled. That said, I do believe that our $GS sales trading contact, with whom we interacted many times for updates, should have explained the difference between Dutch and Unified auctions. Lessons learned,” Twitter, September 21, 2020.
1 setting a valuation of $31 billion: Greg Bensinger, “Airbnb Valued at $31 Billion After New Funding Round,” Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2017.
2 The company’s path to its IPO: Devin Banerjee, Eric Newcomer, and Leslie Picker, “Airbnb Said Close to Hiring Blackstone’s Tosi for CFO Role,” Bloomberg News, July 23, 2015.
3 foot-dragging caused tensions: Cory Weinberg, “At Airbnb, Tensions Bubble Between Chesky and Tosi,” The Information, January 23, 2018.
4 came with an expiration date: Erin Griffith, “Inside Airbnb, Employees Eager for Big Payouts Pushed It to Go Public,” New York Times, September 20, 2019.
5 Chesky did not endorse: Brian Chesky, “Open Letter to the Airbnb Community About Building a 21st Century Company,” Airbnb, January 25, 2018.
6 finally hired one: Airbnb, “Dave Stephenson Joins Airbnb as Chief Financial Officer,” November 26, 2018.
7 she was instrumental: Becky Peterson and Dakin Campbell, “Meet the Star Women Running Silicon Valley’s Largest IPOs at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan,” Business Insider, September 6, 2019.
8 involve hosts in the process: Aisha Al-Muslim and Maureen Farrell, “Airbnb Proposes Giving Hosts a Stake in the Company,” Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2018.
1 Airbnb successfully raised $1.5 billion: Airbnb, Form D, Securities and Exchange Commission, December 4, 2015.
2 massively inflated valuation: Telis Demos, “Airbnb Raises $1.5 Billion in One of Largest Private Placements,” Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2015.
3 took the unusual step: Airbnb, “Airbnb Announces Intention to Become a Publicly-Traded Company during 2020,” September 19, 2019.
4 COVID-19 shut down travel: Leslie Josephs, “Airbnb Halts Beijing Bookings Until May Due to Coronavirus Outbreak,” CNBC.com, February 13, 2020.
5 how management was responding: Greg Greeley, “A People-to-People Marketplace,” Airbnb, March 11, 2020.
1 meeting more regularly: John D. Stoll, “Airbnb Defied the Odds of Startup Success. How Will It Survive a Pandemic?,” Wall Street Journal, April 17, 2020.
2 “significant” offers from investors: Deirdre Bosa and Lauren Feiner, “Airbnb Is Listening to Investment Pitches Despite a Large Cash Pile and Down Market,” CNBC.com, March 19, 2020.
3 Board members were less sanguine: Olivia Carville, “Airbnb Board Meets to Consider Raising Funds or Buying Assets,” Bloomberg News, March 20, 2020.
4 considered demanding a pledge: Jean Eaglesham and Kirsten Grind, “Airbnb Paying More Than 10% Interest on $1 Billion Financing Announced Monday,” Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2020.
5 Lemkau was there: @grlemkau (Gregg Lemkau), “Week 2 of #WFH begins from Hawaii. Awesome in concept… unfortunately ‘in concept’ doesn’t happen until the sun comes up 6 hours into the workday. Hope everyone staying safe and healthy,” Twitter, March 23, 2020.
6 dealing with operational issues: Joshua Franklin and Munsif Vengattil, “Airbnb Suspends Marketing to Save $800 Million, Top Executives Take Pay Cut: Source,” Reuters, March 27, 2020.
7 unveiled several initiatives: Airbnb, “$250M to Support Hosts Impacted by Cancellations,” March 30, 2020.
8 the company’s internal estimate: Dave Lee, “Airbnb Lowers Internal Valuation by 16% to $26bn,” Financial Times, April 2, 2020.
9 Airbnb announced that it had secured: Airbnb, “Silver Lake, Sixth Street Partners Invest $1 Billion in Airbnb,” April 6, 2020.
10 the completed deal: Airbnb, “Airbnb Announces $1 Billion Term Loan,” April 14, 2020.
1 Rumors began to circulate: Tyler Sonnemaker, “Airbnb Is Holding an All-Hands Meeting and Rumors Are Circulating Among Employees That Layoffs May Be on the Agenda,” Business Insider, May 5, 2020.
2 One poster who identified as an Airbnb employee: sVLN24, “How do u break to ur family that you got laid off?” Teamblind.com, May 5, 2020.
3 he did announce layoffs: Airbnb, “A Message from Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky,” May 5, 2020.
4 finally announced: Airbnb, “Airbnb launches Go Near, a New Campaign to Support Domestic Travel,” June 11, 2020.
5 ended the day up: Jessica Bursztynsky, “Shares of Vroom More Than Double in Public Debut, CNBC.com, June 9, 2020.
6 The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Eric Ries, “Out of the Crisis #7, Brian Chesky Part 1: Running Airbnb in Crisis Mode, Being Multi-Stakeholder, and Re-Founding the Company,” Startup Lessons Learned podcast, June 9, 2020.
7 put together a short presentation: Records held by author.
8 closed its books for the second quarter: Cory Weinberg, Air Efrati, and Zoe Bernard. “Airbnb Burned Through $1.2 Billion as IPO Loomed,” The Information, October 7, 2020.
9 a single day in the previous week: Airbnb, “For the First Time Since March, Guests Book One Million Nights in One Day,” July 14, 2020.
10 “get back to great hosting”: Dave Lee, “Airbnb Shakes Up Management and Revives IPO Plans,” Financial Times, July 16, 2020.
11 confirmed reports that it had: “Airbnb Announces Confidential Submission of Draft Registration Statement,” PR Newswire, August 19, 2020.
12 a “terrible time” to enter: Alix Steel, “Airbnb Timed IPO Right, NYU’s Damodaran Says,” Bloomberg Television, August 20, 2020.
1 The filing put an end: Vonnie Quinn, “Ackman Thinks Airbnb’s First Choice Is to Do an IPO,” Bloomberg Television, September 3, 2020.
2 eighty-two blank check vehicles: “SPAC Statistics,” SPACInsider.
3 Even Bill Gurley had come around: Bill Gurley, “Going Public Circa 2020; Door #3: The SPAC,” Above the Crowd, August 23, 2020.
4 a valuation north of $30 billion: Anirban Sen and Joshua Franklin, “Airbnb Aims to Raise Roughly $3 Billion in IPO,” Reuters, October 3, 2020.
5 two shares for every share: Katie Roof and Olivia Carille, “Airbnb Tells Shareholder Group Board Approves Share Split,” Bloomberg News, October 25, 2020.
6 virtual backgrounds with slides: Images held by author.
7 CEO was almost speechless: Emily Chang, “Airbnb CEO ‘Very Humbled’ by Stock’s Indicated Opening Price,” Bloomberg Television, December 10, 2020.
8 raised his hands in the air: Image held by author.
1 DoorDash had found a key advantage: Candy Cheng, “DoorDash Won Food Delivery by Seizing the Suburbs and $2 Billion,” Bloomberg News, November 9, 2019.
2 man responsible for that fundraising: DoorDash, “Prabir Adarkar Joins DoorDash as Chief Financial Officer,” July 19, 2018.
3 a press release stating: “DoorDash Announces Confidential Submission of Draft Registration Statement for Proposed Initial Public Offering,” PR Newswire, February 27, 2020.
4 DoorDash accounted for 45 percent: Edison Trends, “2020 Edison Trends U.S. On-Demand Food Delivery Sales Report,” May 19, 2020.
5 up from 28 percent: Edison Trends, “DoorDash Surpasses Grubhub in National Market Share of Total Consumer Spend with 28% to 27%, with Uber Eats taking 25%,” March 11, 2019.
6 used that momentum: Dan Primack, “Exclusive: DoorDash Valued at $16 Billion After New Funding Round,” Axios, June 18, 2020.
1 DoorDash closed at $189.51: Jessica Bursztynsky, “DoorDash Skyrockets in Market Debut, Closes Up 85%,” CNBC.com, December 9, 2020.
2 SEC ratified its decision: “Order Setting Aside Action by Delegated Authority and Approving a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 2, to Amend Chapter One of the Listed Company Manual to Modify the Provisions Relating to Direct Listings,” Securities and Exchange Commission, December 22, 2020.
3 issued a statement: Allison Herren Lee and Caroline Crenshaw, “Statement on Primary Direct Listings,” Securities and Exchange Commission, December 23, 2020.
4 “game changer for our capital markets”: Katanga Johnson, “U.S. Approves NYSE Listing Plan to Cut Out Wall Street Middlemen,” Reuters, December 22, 2020.
5 a welcome change to the process: Sara Eisen, Interview with Stacey Cunningham, CNBC, December 22, 2020.
6 eventually bring an end: Kevin Stankiewicz, “Bill Gurley Says Direct Listing Rule Change Will End traditional IPOs,” CNBC.com, December 22, 2020.
1 a “supercycle” for technology listings: Dakin Campbell, “A Wave of Innovation Is Transforming IPOs. 3 Insiders Lay Out What Changes Are Next—And What Could Bring It All Crashing Down,” Business Insider, February 6, 2021.
2 delivering more than $3 billion: Dealogic data.
3 handing the reins: Spotify, “Welcoming Paul Vogel, Spotify’s New Chief Financial Officer,” January 16, 2020.
4 board of a blank check company: MSD Acquisition Corp., “MSD Acquisition Corp. Announces Closing of $575 Million Initial Public Offering of Securities and Full Exercise of Overallotment Option,” PR Newswire, March 29, 2021.
5 announced her departure: Unity, “Unity Appoints Luis Felipe Visoso as Chief Financial Officer,” March 17, 2021.
6 Gurley stepped back from day-to-day: Yuliya Chernova and Rolfe Winkler, “Venture Capitalist Bill Gurley Isn’t Joining Benchmark’s Next Fund,” Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2020.