50 Time December 2–9, 2019
When The ride-sharing app LyfT rang The
opening bell at its IPO in March, pink confetti
rained down on the trading floor, a reference
to the company’s current pink logo more than
its long-retired one: a furry pink mustache that
sat atop drivers’ cars. The wacky mustache was
emblematic of Silicon Valley’s live-for-the-
moment startup culture, where entrepreneurs
focus on quickly scaling their product to millions
of people, prioritizing high user growth over
immediate profitability. For much of the past two
decades, consumer-tech companies have carried
the mantle for America’s long-held obsession with
entrepreneurs, lifting Silicon Valley and the tech
industry to ever loftier heights in the national
consciousness.
While enterprise software businesses like Box
and VMware have steadily raked in billions by
building collaboration tools, security solutions
and IT infrastructure, it’s been the likes of Google,
Facebook and, more recently, Uber, Lyft and
Airbnb that have been the hottest places to
work, the companies satirized on TV shows
and the ones lauded (and, more recently, criticized)
in the media.
This is why 2019 was to be the year of the
“unicorns” —the IPOs of technology companies
valued at more than $1 billion. The most antici-
pated were in the consumer-technology space,
in particular Uber and Lyft. Close behind was the
real estate company WeWork, which was never
truly a tech company—but packaged itself as such,
complete with an ambitious (some might say delu-
END
OF THE
UNICORN
sional) CEO and a soaring mission “to elevate the world’s consciousness.”
Over six months later, Uber and Lyft have shaved off more than a third
of their opening share price. WeWork has postponed its IPO, and its CEO
has been replaced by two new leaders, neither of whom seems to share
their predecessor’s interest in building co-working spaces on Mars or
housing the world’s orphans.
With the exception of Pinterest, the 2019 consumer-tech IPOs have
been a disappointment. The unicorns aren’t profitable, and it doesn’t
seem as if they will get there anytime soon.
Some have argued that consumer-technology IPOs have always
gone this way. Google and Facebook both weathered notable bumps
following their stock-market debuts. But it’s important to remember
that both of those companies were younger and already profitable when
they went public.Surprise! WallStreet prefersprofits to elevatingthe world’sconsciousnessBy Jessica PowellOF
2019
THE
DEFINING
MYTHICAL VALUATIONS
Not all unicorns fly high: some firms have lower market caps since
going public this year; WeWork’s value tanked after it tried an IPO