IPOs dying again

I got an email from one of my former students this week who works with startup companies trying to IPO:

It's a brutal market out there! … Many companies were looking to go public in late Q3/early Q4, however, the continued demise of the stock market has many folks running from the idea of an IPO.

Her remarks brought home a nasty side-effect of this month’s stock collapse. And sure enough, MarketWatch and USA Today later reported that at least 8 announced IPOs have been deferred due to “current market conditions.”

PWC (as reported by Business Insider) notes that 2011 was shaping up to be a much better year for IPOs than 2010. Now that trend is in doubt.

As I’ve been saying for years, I think entrepreneurs should look at it the other way: the normal exit will be by acquisition, because only during certain rare (and frothy or bubble-y) periods will an IPO be available. Perhaps the IPO window will open again, but (as has been true since the dot-com crash) the opening will only be temporary.