Following the initial post introducing the topic of loss (see here), here is the promised of profit/loss of 168 IT companies (software, internet, ecommerce) extracted from the 787 companies mentioned before. You will find at the end of the post the full list of companies with their IPO year, profit at IPO, in 2019, and in 2020. So are these companies losing or making money?
Here are some results, but be careful, they are not statiscally relevent and not a proof of anything, but I hope an interesting illustration: in the 90s, the companies going public seem to be profitable, then the companies seem to be losing money at IPO ine th 21st century, with the exception of the famous outliers that Google, Facebook or Alibaba have become. These were profitable at IPO. The following table gives the average values by year of listing.
More recently, beginning in 2015, the companies are (on average) losing money at IPO but also in 2019 and 2020. Following a comment on LinkedIn that I copied in the comments below, I agree that the averages are misleading if outliers hide the number of profit or loss making companies. So here is the table of the number of profit making companies per IPO year:
Again, if you want to look at the performance of individual companies, check the table below. And as a kind of conclusion, all this reminds me a great article from the New Yorker that you may like: How Venture Capitalists Are Deforming Capitalism
| Start-up | Founded | IPO | Income at IPO | Income 2020 | Income 2019 |
| Airbnb | Jun-08 | Nov-20 | -674 | -4 584 | -674 |
| Accolade | Jan-17 | Feb-20 | -56 | -50 | -290 |
| Adobe | Dec-82 | Aug-86 | 1 | 5 260 | 2 951 |
| Adyen | Nov-06 | Jun-18 | 71 | 261 | 204 |
| Affirm | Jun-12 | Nov-20 | -112 | -124 | -134 |
| C3.ai | Jan-09 | Dec-20 | -70 | -69 | -33 |
| Akamai | Aug-98 | Nov-99 | -28 | 557 | 478 |
| Anevia | Jun-03 | Jun-14 | 0,03 | -1 | |
| Wallix Group | Oct-03 | Jun-15 | 0 | -7 | -6 |
| Visiativ | May-94 | Jul-14 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| AmWell | Jun-06 | Aug-20 | -88 | -224 | -87 |
| Amazon | Jul-94 | May-97 | -5 | 21 581 | 11 388 |
| Ansys | Jun-70 | Jun-96 | -1 | 433 | 451 |
| Applovin | Jul-11 | Mar-21 | -125 | -125 | 76 |
| Asana | Dec-08 | Aug-20 | -118 | -211 | -118 |
| Avalara | Aug-99 | May-18 | -64 | -49 | -50 |
| Avast Plc | Oct-88 | Oct-18 | -33 | 240 | 352 |
| Alibaba | Jun-99 | Nov-07 | 40 | 24 049 | 23 882 |
| BrightCove | Aug-04 | Feb-12 | -17 | -6 | -22 |
| Baidu | Jan-00 | Aug-05 | 1 | 3 596 | 317 |
| BigCommerce | Jun-09 | Aug-20 | -42 | -38 | -41 |
| BiliBili | Jun-09 | Mar-18 | -28 | -482 | -206 |
| Bill.com | Jun-07 | Nov-19 | -7 | -31 | -7 |
| Box | Apr-05 | Mar-14 | -168 | -43 | -144 |
| Chegg | Jul-05 | Oct-13 | -49 | -6 | -9 |
| Checkpoint | Jul-93 | Jun-96 | 15 | 846 | 825 |
| Coinbase | Jun-12 | Feb-21 | 322 | 322 | -30 |
| Compass | Oct-12 | Mar-21 | -270 | -270 | -388 |
| Coursera | Oct-11 | Mar-21 | -66 | -66 | -46 |
| Coupang | May-10 | Mar-21 | -474 | -593 | -770 |
| Salesforce.com | Feb-99 | Jun-04 | -9 | 455 | 463 |
| Criteo | Nov-05 | Mar-13 | 12 | 106 | 135 |
| CrowdStrike | Aug-11 | May-19 | -140 | -92 | -141 |
| Castlight Health | Jan-08 | Mar-14 | -62 | -62 | -40 |
| Casper Sleep | Oct-13 | Jan-20 | -98 | -89 | -93 |
| Citrix | Apr-89 | Dec-96 | 2 | 504 | 681 |
| Cyber-Ark Soft. | Apr-99 | Jun-14 | 7 | -5 | 63 |
| DoorDash | May-13 | Nov-20 | -668 | -461 | -667 |
| Dropbox | May-07 | Feb-18 | -111 | -256 | -52 |
| Datadog | Jun-10 | Sep-19 | -10 | -24 | -16 |
| Delivery hero | May-11 | Jun-17 | -202 | -1 404 | -680 |
| DigitalOcean | Dec-11 | Feb-21 | -43 | -43 | -40 |
| Docusign | Apr-03 | Mar-18 | -115 | -243 | -208 |
| Domo | Sep-10 | Jun-18 | -176 | -84 | -125 |
| Electronic Arts | May-82 | Aug-89 | 5 | 837 | 1 000 |
| Eventbrite | May-03 | Sep-18 | -38 | -224 | -68 |
| eBay | May-96 | Sep-98 | -1 | 2 150 | 1 786 |
| eGain Corp. | Sep-97 | Sep-99 | -11 | 7 | 4 |
| Elastic NV | Feb-12 | Sep-18 | -52 | -167 | -102 |
| Jul-04 | Feb-12 | 1 000 | 32 671 | 24 932 | |
| Funding Circle | Aug-10 | Sep-18 | -38 | -154 | -120 |
| 1-800-Flowers | Aug-76 | Aug-99 | 3 | 58 | 34 |
| Flywire | Jul-09 | May-21 | -11 | -15 | -17 |
| Jfrog Ltd | Apr-08 | Aug-20 | -5 | -9 | -5 |
| Fastly | Mar-19 | Apr-19 | -30 | -105 | -45 |
| F-secure | Dec-88 | Nov-99 | 1 | 17 | 5 |
| Farfetch | Oct-07 | Sep-18 | -112 | -3 200 | -353 |
| Fiverr International | Apr-10 | Jun-19 | -36 | -11 | -34 |
| Go Daddy | Jan-97 | Jun-14 | -199 | -404 | 218 |
| Globant SA | Aug-13 | Aug-13 | -1 | 85 | 74 |
| Sep-98 | Aug-04 | 105 | 48 217 | 39 725 | |
| Groupon | Jan-08 | Jun-11 | -413 | -260 | 10 |
| GrubHub | Feb-04 | Apr-14 | 15 | -147 | -6 |
| Guidewire | Sep-01 | Jan-12 | 35 | -6 | 29 |
| HelloFresh | Oct-11 | Nov-17 | -15 | 405 | 1 |
| The Honest Co | Jul-11 | Apr-21 | -14 | -13 | -31 |
| Hubspot | Apr-05 | Aug-14 | -34 | -43 | -27 |
| JD.com | Nov-06 | May-14 | -50 | 8 311 | 2 307 |
| KnowBe4 | Aug-10 | Mar-21 | -2 | -1 | -124 |
| LendingClub | Oct-06 | Dec-14 | 7 | -187 | -30 |
| Lemonade | Jun-15 | Jun-20 | -108 | -122 | -108 |
| Lyft Inc. | Mar-07 | Mar-19 | -910 | -1 764 | -2 702 |
| Medallia | Jul-00 | Jun-19 | -82 | -138 | -114 |
| Mimecast | Mar-03 | Oct-15 | 1 | 34 | 4 |
| Model N | Dec-99 | Mar-13 | -5 | -6 | -15 |
| Mogu | Feb-11 | Nov-18 | -81 | -110 | -92 |
| Momo | Nov-11 | Nov-14 | -8 | 476 | 552 |
| Marin Software | Mar-06 | Mar-13 | -26 | -16 | -17 |
| Microsoft | Jan-75 | Mar-86 | 24 | 56 627 | 46 374 |
| nCino | Dec-11 | Jun-20 | -27 | -40 | -28 |
| CloudFare | Jul-09 | Aug-19 | -87 | -100 | -103 |
| Netflix | Aug-97 | May-02 | -37 | 4 585 | 2 688 |
| Nuance Comm | Jul-94 | Apr-00 | -18 | 103 | 145 |
| Xing / New Work | Aug-03 | Dec-06 | -1 | 41 | 53 |
| Okta | Jan-09 | Mar-17 | -76 | -193 | -183 |
| Olo | Jun-05 | Feb-21 | 3 | 3 | -8 |
| OneMedical | Jul-02 | Jan-20 | -44 | -76 | -53 |
| ON24 | Jan-98 | Jan-21 | -17 | 21 | -16 |
| OpenDoor Tech. | Mar-14 | Dec-20 | -339 | -218 | -229 |
| Oracle | Jun-77 | Mar-86 | 2 | 14 | 14 |
| Oscar Health | Oct-12 | Feb-21 | -405 | -402 | -259 |
| Overstock.com | May-97 | Jun-02 | -14 | 49 | -134 |
| Procore | Jan-02 | Feb-20 | -83 | -95 | -82 |
| PagerDuty | Feb-09 | Mar-19 | -38 | -62 | -49 |
| Pinduoduo | Apr-15 | Jul-18 | -83 | -1 040 | -1 096 |
| PDF Solutions | Nov-92 | Jul-01 | -9 | -16 | -7 |
| Phreesia | Feb-05 | Jun-19 | -15 | -25 | -15 |
| Oct-08 | Apr-19 | -62 | -126 | -1 358 | |
| Anaplan | Jun-08 | Oct-18 | -47 | -153 | -148 |
| Palantir | Jun-03 | Aug-20 | -579 | -1 164 | -564 |
| Poshmark, Inc. | Jan-11 | Dec-20 | -49 | 23 | -49 |
| PluralSight | Jun-04 | Apr-18 | -96 | ||
| Pintec | Jul-12 | Jul-18 | -13 | -137 | -728 |
| PubMatic | Nov-06 | Dec-20 | 7 | 31 | 8 |
| Paypal | Dec-98 | Feb-02 | -130 | 5 274 | 3 113 |
| Qad Inc | Aug-79 | Aug-97 | 1 | 11 | -2 |
| QuinStreet | Apr-99 | Feb-10 | 17 | 19 | 11 |
| Qutoutiao | Jun-16 | Sep-18 | -14 | -171 | -324 |
| Coupons.com | May-98 | Feb-14 | -59 | -50 | -22 |
| Roblox | Mar-04 | Nov-20 | -86 | -266 | -76 |
| Redfin | Oct-02 | Jun-17 | -22 | 1 | -71 |
| Renren | Oct-02 | May-11 | -62 | -95 | -141 |
| RealNetworks | Feb-94 | Nov-97 | -4 | -5 | -19 |
| Deliveroo | Aug-12 | Mar-21 | -312 | -323 | -453 |
| Rovio | Nov-03 | Nov-07 | 10 | 41 | 18 |
| Rapid7 | Jul-00 | May-15 | -32 | -72 | -40 |
| Shopify | Sep-04 | Nov-15 | -22 | 249 | -141 |
| SmartSheet | Jun-05 | Mar-18 | -49 | -120 | -103 |
| Snap Inc | Jul-10 | Feb-17 | -514 | -828 | -1 000 |
| SnowFlake | Jul-12 | Aug-20 | -348 | -543 | -358 |
| Splunk Inc | Oct-03 | Apr-12 | -10 | -777 | -235 |
| Spotify | Dec-06 | Feb-18 | -1 606 | -655 | -88 |
| Sprout Social | Apr-10 | Oct-19 | -20 | -31 | -46 |
| Square | Jun-09 | Oct-15 | -154 | 272 | 26 |
| Swissquote | Aug-99 | May-00 | -2 | 91 | 44 |
| Squarespace | Oct-07 | Apr-21 | 30 | 32 | 65 |
| StoneCo | Mar-14 | Oct-18 | -27 | 279 | 274 |
| Sumo Logic | Mar-10 | Aug-20 | -92 | -78 | -91 |
| SurveyMonkey | Mar-00 | Sep-18 | -24 | -80 | -62 |
| Teladoc | Jun-02 | Jun-15 | -17 | -515 | -80 |
| ThredUp | Jan-09 | Mar-21 | -47 | -46 | -36 |
| Atlassian | Oct-02 | Dec-15 | 6 | -296 | -565 |
| Tenable | Sep-02 | Jul-18 | -41 | -36 | -90 |
| Talend SA | Sep-05 | Jul-16 | -22 | -70 | -58 |
| TrustPilot | Feb-07 | Mar-21 | 6 | -15 | -29 |
| Tufin Software | Jan-05 | Mar-19 | -4 | -33 | -27 |
| Tuya | Jun-14 | Feb-21 | -70 | -69 | -73 |
| Twilio | Mar-08 | Jun-16 | -35 | -472 | -369 |
| 2U | Apr-08 | Feb-14 | -27 | -190 | -241 |
| Jun-06 | Nov-13 | -79 | 101 | 528 | |
| Unity Software | Aug-04 | Aug-20 | -163 | -274 | -150 |
| Uber | Jul-10 | Apr-19 | 987 | -6 488 | -7 874 |
| Upland | Jul-10 | Sep-14 | -9 | 100 | 90 |
| Upstart | Feb-12 | Nov-20 | -5 | 6 | -1 |
| Upwork | Dec-99 | Oct-18 | -4 | -21 | -15 |
| VipShop Holding | Aug-08 | Mar-12 | -156 | 1 134 | 804 |
| Vroom, Inc. | Jan-12 | Jun-20 | -143 | -193 | -128 |
| Verisign | Apr-95 | Feb-98 | -19 | 837 | 849 |
| Wayfair | May-02 | Aug-14 | -11 | 351 | -929 |
| WorkDay | Mar-05 | Oct-12 | -79 | -206 | -423 |
| Windeln | Oct-10 | May-15 | -8 | -13 | -14 |
| Wisekey | Feb-99 | Mar-16 | -33 | -27 | -21 |
| Wish | Jun-10 | Nov-20 | -129 | -631 | -144 |
| X financial | Mar-14 | Sep-18 | 51 | -1 308 | 774 |
| Yelp | Sep-04 | Mar-12 | -16 | -34 | 35 |
| Yext | Nov-06 | Mar-17 | -26 | -93 | -120 |
| Yandex | Sep-97 | May-11 | 100 | 554 | 321 |
| YY | Apr-05 | Oct-12 | -12 | 102 | 716 |
| Zillow | Dec-04 | Jul-11 | -6 | -14 | -207 |
| Zalando | Feb-08 | Oct-14 | -113 | 377 | 175 |
| Zendesk | Aug-07 | May-14 | -22 | -169 | -141 |
| Zhihu | Dec-10 | Mar-21 | -79 | -96 | -169 |
| ZipRecruiter | Jun-10 | Apr-21 | 63 | 65 | -5 |
| Zoom Video | Apr-11 | Mar-19 | 7 | 659 | 12 |
| Zynga | Oct-07 | Aug-11 | 90 | -375 | 64 |
| Zscaler | Sep-07 | Feb-18 | -35 | -107 | -35 |
| Zuora | Sep-06 | Mar-18 | -46 | -73 | -85 |
A quick exchange on Linkedin :
Ignacio Barrios Baños
Hi Hervé Lebret. Very nice post. I understand this Net Income. I would be curious to know how outliers are affecting average income 2019 and 2020. E.g. FB income for 2020 was $29B, which implies. If average of 8 companies was $4.1B, it implies that sum of other 7 was $3.8B, hence av. $0.54B per company
Hervé Lebret :
Hello Ignacio! That is right outliers affect average income and the 7 others individually listed in the table at the end, the 7 are Brightcove which lost 6M in 2020, Guidewire, another loss of 6M, Splunk a loss of 777M, VipShop a profit of 1B, Workday a loss of 200M, Yelp a loss of 34M, YY a profit of 102M, so most are indeed losing money like recent companies. You are right I should not have just done the averages but count how many make a loss and how many make a profit. Will add a postcriptum asap! So this is my answer to Ignacio Barrios Baños