????上周中國(guó)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)視頻公司土豆網(wǎng)（Tudou）和前一周云服務(wù)公司Carbonite公司成功進(jìn)行首次公開(kāi)募股（IPO）,，好些人不禁向我問(wèn)起同一個(gè)問(wèn)題：“為什么在如此嚴(yán)酷的市場(chǎng)條件下這類(lèi)公司還要選擇上市,？”

????毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，當(dāng)前的市場(chǎng)狀況非常兇險(xiǎn)。極端波動(dòng),。不確定性無(wú)處不在,。對(duì)美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的深深憂(yōu)慮，以及過(guò)去幾年間毫無(wú)起色的就業(yè)市場(chǎng),。投資者們深感緊張,。投資者的緊張情緒又造就了艱難的市場(chǎng)環(huán)境。

????那么,，為什么這些公司仍然要堅(jiān)持上市呢,？過(guò)去幾個(gè)財(cái)季中已經(jīng)上市，目前正在波濤洶涌的海面上奮力前行的公司近況如何,？自2010年1月起,，包括土豆網(wǎng)在內(nèi)，共有11家此類(lèi)公司完成了公開(kāi)募股,，而對(duì)它們來(lái)說(shuō),，這段歷程實(shí)在坎坷。

????對(duì)這個(gè)問(wèn)題的簡(jiǎn)短解答是：上市只是優(yōu)秀的公司籌集成長(zhǎng)資本的一種機(jī)制而已,。

????公司一旦將大量成長(zhǎng)資本注入資產(chǎn)平衡表,，就能馬上為公開(kāi)市場(chǎng)投資者建功。對(duì)不會(huì)出售新股的股票持有者和管理層來(lái)說(shuō),，新股的價(jià)格很重要（因?yàn)樗鼈儠?huì)導(dǎo)致股權(quán)稀釋?zhuān)?，但與該公司股票在12-36個(gè)月后交易價(jià)格如何相比，這就不那么重要了,。并且,，正像我的合伙人格倫?所羅門(mén)最近指出的那樣，IPO的短期股價(jià)與股票未來(lái)的交易情況關(guān)系甚微,，甚至毫無(wú)關(guān)系,。

????我還記得2008年8月云平臺(tái)公司Rackspace公司上市的情景（免責(zé)聲明：我的個(gè)人賬戶(hù)已持有Rackspace公司的股票好幾年了）。當(dāng)時(shí)所謂的IPO市場(chǎng)根本無(wú)從談起,。純粹是白紙一張,，一無(wú)所有。實(shí)際上,，在Rackspace開(kāi)始上市交易前的一個(gè)財(cái)季里,，沒(méi)有一家獲得風(fēng)投的公司成功上市，而Rackspace則是2009年3月到2010年5月這12個(gè)月間唯一一家獲得風(fēng)投并成功進(jìn)行IPO的公司,。

????Rackspace公司于2008年8月7日正式IPO,，上市后股價(jià)迅速“敗落”【《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）的用語(yǔ)，不是我的說(shuō)法】,，并一路下挫（讀者也許還記得,，那年秋天開(kāi)始,，我們經(jīng)歷了史上規(guī)模最大的全球性金融危機(jī)）。從下圖可以看到,，這只股票一路跌至4.5美元：

????With last week's IPO by Chinese Internet video company Tudou (TUDO) and the previous week's IPO by Carbonite (CARB), quite a few people have asked me: "Why would a company go public in such a brutal market?"

????It is indeed a very rough market. Extremely volatile. A lot of uncertainty around the world. Huge concerns about the US economy and a lack of any real progress on employment in the last few years. Investors are nervous. Nervous investors make for rough markets.

????So why are companies still going public? And what about the companies that went public in the last few quarters and are now riding some very choppy seas (we've had 11 of our portfolio companies, including Tudou, complete public offerings since January 2010, and it's been a rough ride for many).

????Here's the short answer: Going public is another mechanism for raising growth capital for a good companies.

????A company puts significant growth capital on its balance sheet and is able to begin establishing a track record with public market investors. For existing shareholders and management who aren't selling any shares in the offering, the price of the offering is important (because they incur dilution), but not as important as where the company's stock is trading 12-36 months later. And, as my partner Glenn Solomon recently pointed out, the near-term price of an IPO has little to no correlation with where the stock trades in the future.

????I remember when Rackspace (RAX) went public in August of 2008 (disclaimer: I have owned shares of Rackspace in my personal account for several years). There was no IPO market to speak of at all. Zip/zero/zilch. In fact, not a single venture-backed company had gone public the quarter before Rackspace began trading, and Rackspace ended up being the only venture-backed IPO within the 12-month period between March 2009 and March 2010.

????RAX launched its IPO on August 7th, 2008, promptly "tanked" (Fortune's words, not mine), and kept going down from there (you may recall, we had one of the largest global financial crises in history that fall). As you can see from the chart below, it traded all the way down to $4.50:

????但是,，該公司將1.87億美元注入資產(chǎn)負(fù)債表中用于公司成長(zhǎng)，并且,，憑借其出色的業(yè)務(wù)基礎(chǔ),，它成為了冉冉升起的市場(chǎng)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者。你從上圖中可以看到,，Rackspace每一財(cái)季都對(duì)其股票持有人有所回報(bào),，最終，上市僅32個(gè)月后,，其股價(jià)就上漲了約10倍,。

????千真萬(wàn)確——在低位購(gòu)買(mǎi)Rackspace股票的投資者獲得了難以置信的回報(bào)，甚至在該股IPO時(shí)以12.5美元購(gòu)入股票的投資者也獲得了3倍以上的回報(bào)（當(dāng)然,，前提是他們一直持有該股票）,。過(guò)去幾個(gè)月里，Rackspace的股價(jià)略有下挫,，但其市值仍然高達(dá)40億美元,，并且在托管業(yè)務(wù)和云計(jì)算行業(yè)，這家公司仍然是市場(chǎng)公認(rèn)的業(yè)界領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,。公司的員工,、管理層和早期的股票持有者都獲得了豐厚的回報(bào)。

????因此——可以這么回答上述問(wèn)題：之所以在動(dòng)蕩的市場(chǎng)中上市,，因?yàn)楣镜臉I(yè)務(wù)擁有穩(wěn)固的基礎(chǔ),，無(wú)論市場(chǎng)狀況如何，投資者都會(huì)買(mǎi)入,，公司能藉IPO此募集到重要的成長(zhǎng)資金,，轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)樯鲜泄荆㈤_(kāi)始取得業(yè)績(jī),。無(wú)須為未來(lái)的股價(jià)擔(dān)憂(yōu),。市場(chǎng)一定會(huì)對(duì)業(yè)績(jī)久經(jīng)考驗(yàn)的公司給予回報(bào)，而管理層,、公司員工和股東都將從中獲益,。

????杰夫?理查茲是風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司GGV Capital的合伙人。

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)

????But – the company put $187 million on its balance sheet for growth, and it was an emerging market leader with great business fundamentals. As you can see from the chart, RAX delivered for its shareholders quarter after quarter, eventually rising approximately 10X from its lows a mere 32 months later.

????That's right – shareholders who bought RAX at the lows made an unbelievable return, and even those who bought at the IPO price of $12.50 made 3X+ on their money (if they held). RAX has traded down a bit in the past few months, but still sports a $4 billion market cap and is a recognized leader in the hosting and cloud computing industries. Its employees, management and early shareholders have been generously rewarded.

????So – to answer the question: You go public in a choppy market because your business has strong fundamentals that investors will buy into regardless, you raise important growth capital, and begin establishing a track record as a public company. (Don’t???) Worry about the share price down the road. The market typically rewards companies for great performance over time, and management, employees and shareholders benefit.

????Jeff Richards (@jrichlive) is a partner with venture capital firm GGV Capital.