Because for Wall St capitalism, dominance is the product.
Which is why steady-but-slow niche businesses don't get this kind of attention, even if they have better long-term prospects.
The product being sold at IPO is the promise of dominance of a market - because that implies a whole set of predictable relationships with investors, employees, and customers.
The product as sold to customers - whatever that is - is almost irrelevant.
A successful IPO is a convincing statement of political intent. We has almost managed that - but not quite enough to get it over the line.
That's only true for tech companies, and companies like WeWork that brand themselves as tech companies in order to get investors to value them as such. Aramco aren't IPOing with a promise to someday sell all the oil in the world, they're content with merely a lot.
Which is why steady-but-slow niche businesses don't get this kind of attention, even if they have better long-term prospects.
The product being sold at IPO is the promise of dominance of a market - because that implies a whole set of predictable relationships with investors, employees, and customers.
The product as sold to customers - whatever that is - is almost irrelevant.
A successful IPO is a convincing statement of political intent. We has almost managed that - but not quite enough to get it over the line.