The IPO: Twitter Goes Public

On Tuesday, the most anticipated technology debut since Facebook is a success story, and the success was written in the first minutes of trading. Twitter went public on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, November 7, priced at twenty-six dollars a share, and the stock opened at forty-five dollars and ten cents, a gain of more than seventy percent. The debut is the November 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the companies that define a new way of communicating are worth more than their revenue, because their value is the attention they command.

The IPO is the subject of this article: what the debut looked like, what the numbers said, how the company got there, and what it means for the age of the platform. The stock closed its first day at forty-four dollars and ninety cents, up about seventy-three percent, and the company was valued at more than thirty billion dollars. This is the story of the IPO, and the story is about the moment the little bird became a public company.

1. The Debut

The debut happened on a Thursday morning, and the stage was the New York Stock Exchange. The company's founders and executives gathered on the balcony, the symbol of the company, a blue bird, was projected on the building, and the opening bell rang to celebrate the listing. The stock priced at twenty-six dollars, above the already raised range of twenty-three to twenty-five dollars, and the demand was the proof of the anticipation.

The trading began, and the stock opened at forty-five dollars and ten cents, a gain of more than seventy-three percent over the IPO price. The first trade was the headline, and the headline was the story of the day: the little company that had started as a side project was now worth more than thirty billion dollars. The crowd on the floor cheered, and the cameras captured the moment, and the moment was the culmination of seven years.

2. The Numbers

The numbers behind the debut told a story of growth and loss, and the mix was the reality of the platform era. Twitter had about two hundred and thirty million monthly users, and the users were the asset. The company's revenue was growing fast, driven by advertising, and the advertising was the business model: the promoted tweets that appeared in the timeline, the trends that brands could buy, the targeting that the data made possible.

The company was not profitable, and the losses were the other side of the story. The investors were buying the future, not the present, and the future was the bet: the platform that the world used to talk would find a way to make money from the talk. The mobile phone was where the users were, and the mobile was where the ads were moving. The numbers were the mix of promise and risk, and the mix was the price.

3. The Company

The company behind the IPO had a story that made the debut personal, and the story was the founding myth. Twitter had been created in 2006 as a side project of a podcasting startup, and it had grown into the place where the world broke news, argued politics, and shared the moment. The founders, including Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, and Biz Stone, had become names, and the names were the human face of the platform.

The company had also become the nervous system of the world, and the nervous system was the value. The revolutions, the disasters, the sports finals, the celebrity moments, all of them played out on Twitter in real time, and the real time was the magic. The company that had started with a single tweet was now the place where the world talked to itself, and the talking was the product.

4. The Comparison

The comparison that hung over the debut was Facebook, and the comparison was the shadow. Facebook had gone public in May 2012, and the debut had been a disaster: the stock had fallen below the IPO price, the trading had been plagued by glitches, and the coverage had been brutal. The shadow had made the technology industry cautious, and the caution had made the Twitter debut the test of the market's appetite for the platform stocks.

The comparison also made the Twitter debut sweeter. The stock opened up more than seventy percent, the trading went smoothly, and the day ended with the company valued above its rival LinkedIn. The debut was the redemption of the platform IPO, and the redemption was the story. The comparison was the context, and the context made the success more dramatic.

5. The Skeptics

The skeptics had their questions, and the questions were the honest part of the story. The company was losing money, and the losses raised the oldest question in technology: how would the platform ever become a great business? The users were engaged, and the engagement was not the same as revenue, and the revenue per user was far below the revenue per user of the big internet companies. The skeptics asked whether the valuation could be justified by the economics.

The skeptics also asked about the nature of the platform itself. Twitter was the place where the world talked, and the talking was hard to monetize: the users came for the news and the moments, and the ads could interrupt the news and the moments. The questions were real, and the answers would come in the years ahead. The skeptics were the counterweight, and the counterweight was the market's way of testing the story.

6. The Moment

The moment of the debut was the moment of the platform itself, and the moment was the story. The year 2013 had been the year of the real-time web, and Twitter was the real-time web made public. The IPO was the market's recognition that the platform was not a fad, that the way the world talked had changed, and that the change was worth billions. The moment was the confirmation, and the confirmation was the value.

The moment was also personal for the people who had built the company. The founders who had started with a side project were now worth fortunes, and the employees who had joined early shared in the windfall. The moment was the reward for the years of work, and the reward was the human part of the story. The moment was the culmination, and the culmination was the beginning of the next chapter.

7. The Lesson

The lesson of the IPO was about the value of attention, and the value was the deepest truth of the platform era. Twitter had modest revenue and no profits, and the market valued it at more than thirty billion dollars because the attention was the asset. The platform commanded the attention of the world, and the attention was the raw material of the future economy. The lesson was that the companies that own attention own the future, and the ownership is worth more than the current revenue.

The lesson was also about the power of the simple idea. Twitter was a text box with a limit, a way to say something short to the world, and the simplicity was the genius. The companies that define a new way of communicating are the companies that change the world, and the change is worth the price of the shares. The lesson was the attention, and the attention was the story.

8. The Future

The future of the company would be written in the quarters ahead, and the future was the test of the valuation. The stock had surged on the first day, and the surge was the market's mood, and the mood would meet the earnings reports. The company would need to grow the revenue, to show the path to profit, and to keep the platform essential in a world of rivals. The future was the work, and the work was the price of the debut.

The future was also the lesson in the making. The little bird had become a public company, and the public company would have to answer to the market for everything it did. The platform that had changed how the world talked would now have to prove that the talking could be a business. The IPO is the November 2013 story, and the story is the lesson: the companies that define a new way of communicating are worth more than their revenue, because their value is the attention they command. The bird is out of the nest, and the flight is the future. The investors who bought at forty-five dollars were betting on the next decade, and the next decade was the test. The company that had changed how the world talked had now to prove it could build a business on the talking, and the proving was the work. The nest is behind, and the sky is ahead. The first day was the celebration, and the celebration was the market's mood, and the mood would meet the earnings. The company that had changed how the world talked had to prove it could build a business on the talking, and the proving was the work of the years ahead. The little bird had grown, and the grown bird had to fly on its own, and the flying was the future of the platform.

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