💵💵Slack's no Slacker ---> #IPO Talk's

Slack is where work happens: Slack is a collaboration hub, where the right people and the right information come together, helping everyone get work done.

Slack made its IPO filing with the SEC public yesterday, finally offering some answers to questions above Slackbot’s pay grade.

The workplace messaging company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker “SK,” likely within the next month or so. It’s expected to go public with a valuation above its most recent price tag of $7.2 billion.

And by this time in 2019’s neverending IPO parade, you know making a filing public means giving the people a look into your once-murky financials.

So what is Slack working with?

It reported impressive revenue growth, up 82% annually to $400.6 million in the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31.

Slack had 10 million daily users and 88,000 paid customers (up almost 50% from last year). No surprise, given it's become the go-to for calling an all-hands or for important team discussions like this:

• Shayna [1:16 PM] Psa matzo ball soup at hale and hearty
• Shayna [1:32 PM] update: not the best matzo ball soup...5/10, don't recommend

But like most other tech firms lining up for the IPO parade, Slack’s not profitable—it lost $140.7 million last fiscal year. And like one tech firm in particular, Slack will sell shares in a direct listing…

Which is what, exactly?

You remember it from Spotify’s listing last year. A direct listing means Slack will bypass bankers (and the tens of millions they typically charge) to list shares directly on the open market.

• Risk: Demand from public market investors will be Slack’s only safety net, and it’ll forego safeguards that guarantee liquidity.
• Reward: Bypassing bankers.

Roll call

Slack joins a crowded roster of Silicon Valley’s favorite VC targets taking things public. So far, the results are...pretty good. While Lyft stock fell below its IPO price, PagerDuty, Zoom, and Pinterest are all in the green.