Forget all the junk you think you know about markets. A stock is something you buy. How many things have you bought that doubled in resale price the day you bought it? I'll bet it's a vanishingly small number.
From a producers point of view such a situation means you underestimated demand for your product, which means you didn't do enough research.
In line with the common stupidity of IPOs, LinkedIn trusted a conflicted party to do that research for it.
LinkedIn paid a fear tax. Fear that if they tried to buck the statu-quo like Google they wouldn't come out as well, fear that if they tried something shockingly new like selling stocks directly to individuals who want them they would fail.*
I don't mind when people note the standard way things are done, but for the love of Bob don't pretend the way the stock market works today is fundamental, immutable, or even close to Good.
* Speed argument on this point: Illegal! -> Benefits from that? -> Ignorant investors protected! -> Uh huh, other externalities? -> Large investors make millions! -> We're done here.
Forget all the junk you think you know about markets. A stock is something you buy. How many things have you bought that doubled in resale price the day you bought it? I'll bet it's a vanishingly small number.
From a producers point of view such a situation means you underestimated demand for your product, which means you didn't do enough research.
In line with the common stupidity of IPOs, LinkedIn trusted a conflicted party to do that research for it.
LinkedIn paid a fear tax. Fear that if they tried to buck the statu-quo like Google they wouldn't come out as well, fear that if they tried something shockingly new like selling stocks directly to individuals who want them they would fail.*
I don't mind when people note the standard way things are done, but for the love of Bob don't pretend the way the stock market works today is fundamental, immutable, or even close to Good.
* Speed argument on this point: Illegal! -> Benefits from that? -> Ignorant investors protected! -> Uh huh, other externalities? -> Large investors make millions! -> We're done here.