Online analysis.TWO COUPLES QUIT THEIR CORPORATE JOBS TO FORM IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. MONITOR, PROVIDING WEB-based INFORMATION ON NEW PUBLIC OFFERINGS IPO Monitor is trying to ride two waves to success - the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the and the stock market. Started three years ago by four partners, the company provides subscribers with online information about the latest initial public offerings. "We were tired of working for other people, and we were looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. ideas to catch the Internet craze." said partner Jeff Stacey. "At the time, the IPO market was just starting to take off. We realized this was a good idea because all the information on IPOs was public, so we didn't have to pay for it." IPO Monitor's 2,000 or so subscribers pay $29 a month to log onto the company's Web site and receive e-mailed bulletins containing IPO information. Its customers are mostly individual investors, stock brokers and investor relations Investor relations The process by which the corporation communicates with its investors. firms. "I use it all the time for research," said Laurence Briggs, president of online stock brokerage Investin.com in Dallas. "Now if our customers ask for information on IPOs I tell them to look at IPO Monitor." The firm was launched by two couples with different but complementary skills. Jeff Stacey, formerly an electronic engineer at TRW TRW The Real World (TV reality show) TRW The Right Way TRW Tactical Reconnaissance Wing TRW The Retriever Weekly (University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD) TRW Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc Inc., designed the software while his wife, Kara Kara (kär`ə), river, c.140 mi (230 km) long, NE European and NW Siberian Russia. It flows N from the N Urals into the Kara Sea, forming part of the traditional border between European and Asian Russia. It is navigable in its lower course. Stacey, a graphic artist, created the Web site. Tom Madden mad·den v. mad·dened, mad·den·ing, mad·dens v.tr. 1. To make angry; irritate. 2. To drive insane. v.intr. To become infuriated. and his wife Deborah Munroe, who came from public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most and marketing backgrounds, focus on generating customers. Jeff Stacey said revenues are expected to hit the $1 million mark this year, up from around $300,000 in 1998, and he notes that the company has been profitable since last year. Each couple invested about $20,000 at the initial stages, mostly for computers and other electronic equipment. Despite this growth, the partners acknowledge that they are not making as much money as they did as employees of large companies. "But at least I have equity," said Stacey. "My biggest fear right now is having to go back to a company that is not entrepreneurial en·tre·pre·neur n. A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture. [French, from Old French, from entreprendre, to undertake; see enterprise. ." Until last August, IPO Monitor was run out of a "virtual office." with Madden and Munroe operating out of their home in Calabasas, and the Staceys working out of their residence in Rancho Palos Verdes Rancho Pal·os Ver·des A city of southern California on a channel of the Pacific Ocean west of Long Beach. Population: 42,100. . As the business grew, they opted for brick and mortar See bricks and mortar. and took office space in the Century Boulevard corridor near Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX . The location was chosen because it was both cheap and halfway between their two homes. The venture has been helped, of course, by a surge in the number of companies going public over the past two years, particularly in the high-tech sector. At the same time, individual investors are increasingly active in the stock market via the Internet and are hungry for the latest news on public offerings. The company also has benefited from a change in Securities and Exchange Commission policy. In 1996, the SEC mandated that all companies that are publicly traded or planning to go public file their financial statements electronically. As a result, IPO Monitor researchers can gather information about IPOs via the Internet, rather than having to visit SEC offices. But there is competition. Alert-IPO! was established last year by Torrance-based Ostman Inc., and Austin, Texas-based Hoover Inc. operates a service called IPO Central. IPO Monitor has tried to stay ahead of the competition by expanding its services including more analysis to help investors judge what IPOs are strongest. Information on secondary offerings is also in the works. Recently, the company has entered new markets through partnerships with other Internet vendors. It reached an agreement to provide IPO information to the New York-based financial news service The Street.com. The partners also established an electronic wire service that will provide subscribers with corporate news, and they operate a service that designs and maintains investor-relations Web sites for corporate clients. Obviously, the fortunes of IPO Monitor will be affected by the strength of the IPO market - a market that has been fickle fick·le adj. Characterized by erratic changeableness or instability, especially with regard to affections or attachments; capricious. [Middle English fikel, from Old English ficol, in recent months. But Tom Madden is confident that despite such fluctuations, business will remain strong for at least the next few years. The record-high levels of venture capital investments should see to that. "People always need money to fund good ideas," he said. Will IPO Monitor eventually be among those companies going public? "We've had some people suggest that," said Stacey. "But we are not there yet." Spotlight IPO Monitor Year Founded: 1996 Core Business: Providing subscribers with up-to-date information via the Internet on initial public offerings Employees in 1996: 4 Employees in 1999: 7 Revenue in 1998: $300,000 Revenue in 1999 [projected]: $1 million Goal: To become the leading Internet source for information on IPOs Driving Force: Growth in the number of individuals using the Internet to gather investment tips |
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