IPO Thoughts ---> OK, but What Makes Pinterest Different? #IPO

It’s another historic day for tech IPOs, or as we like to call it, Thursday. Today’s lineup: Pinterest and Zoom. We’ll get to both, but let’s start with Pinterest, which raised $1.4 billion at a $10 billion valuation.

The “productivity tool for planning your dreams” (their words, not ours) has spent the better part of the last year lumped in with 2019’s high-growth, high-potential tech IPOs, including Lyft, Uber, Slack, Palantir, etc.

But when Pinterest lists shares on the NYSE today, it wants you to know…

It’s not like the rest of ’em

First, it’s not burning through cash. Pinterest lost $63 million in 2018—that’s a lot closer to profitability than Lyft (which lost $911 million last year) or Uber ($1.85 billion)...and it’s less than the $130 million Pinterest lost in 2017.

Second, it doesn’t consider itself a social media company. Pinterest users arrive on the platform ready to buy things, not judge an upcoming date’s selfie angle at Machu Picchu. Intent is important to companies playing Hungry Hungry Hippos for coveted ad dollars, which is why the company may have a leg up in turning users into revenue generators.

Bottom line: After Lyft’s stumbling IPO tempered investors’ excitement, Pinterest is hoping to brand itself as something outside Silicon Valley’s ordinary™.