In my book, The Upstart Startup, I wrote, “David Scott notes the roller coaster ride on Wall Street that could have occurred if Cerent had gone public in 2000, ‘At that time Juniper’s stock went from $26 to $200 over the following one year span and Cisco went from $36 to $80 over the same period, plus there were some splits in there. Could we have gone to $200 or more as Cerent or lost it all by going IPO? We could’ve gone to $200 and then back to zero and then been out of work.’”
Hindsight is 20-20 and David was right when it came to seeing wild increases and decreases of stocks that went IPO in 1999 and 2000. For example, members of the IPO class of 1999 ended the millennium with triple-digit gains, eluding all logic for such massive valuations.
Juniper, one of Vinod Khosla’s investments, finished 900 percent higher. Redback, a company that would later acquire Cerent’s sister company, Siara Systems, finished 1999 more than 1,400 percent higher. Joining the triple-digit club was long-haul provider Sycamore, fueled by orders from Williams Communications Group, with a valuation increase for Sycamore upwards of 700 percent.
Carl Russo and the Cerent board opted to be bought buy Cisco in August 1999 instead of taking the IPO route. This meant that Cerent would avoid the wild roller-coaster ride of its stock going up and down and instead follow the more serene ride on the Cisco valuation train.
Of all of these companies mentioned, only Cisco and Juniper continue to participate in the telecommunications market of 2016.
Juniper, one of Vinod Khosla’s investments, finished 900 percent higher. Redback, a company that would later acquire Cerent’s sister company, Siara Systems, finished 1999 more than 1,400 percent higher. Joining the triple-digit club was long-haul provider Sycamore, fueled by orders from Williams Communications Group, with a valuation increase for Sycamore upwards of 700 percent.
Carl Russo and the Cerent board opted to be bought buy Cisco in August 1999 instead of taking the IPO route. This meant that Cerent would avoid the wild roller-coaster ride of its stock going up and down and instead follow the more serene ride on the Cisco valuation train.
Of all of these companies mentioned, only Cisco and Juniper continue to participate in the telecommunications market of 2016.