Netscape IPO 20th anniversary: 's 2005 story
Summary
And, unlike then, many of the hottest companies of the current tech boom are opting to stay private, and put off an IPO for as long as possible, ironically following the advice of Marc Andreessen, one of Netscape’s founders. They reveal how Netscape founder Jim Clark initially was focused on anything but the Internet; the unique blend of Gen X technologists and seasoned managers that became a template for so many of the dot-coms that followed; and the surprise of the IPO itself—even Netscape’s investment-banking firm, Morgan Stanley (MS), didn’t appreciate what it had wrought. One is Danny Rimer, an analyst at Hambrecht & Quist (H&Q), a San Francisco investment bank; another is John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins, who listens to his friend Bill Joy. I’d love to spend some time with these guys.” As the banker who took Silicon Graphics public in the early ’80s, Quattrone remembers Clark’s presentations to investors on the multicity tour known as the road show and believes he is worth betting on. It incorporated JavaScript, software that let designers build in many of the lively features we take for granted on web pages today, like interactive forms that enable us to buy things online.