Webvan IPO delayed

from the when-too-much-publicity-hurts dept

Thu, Oct 7th 1999 10:57am — Dan Miller

Webvan's IPO has been delayed due to the high volume of publicity surrounding the IPO. The article states it was a mutual agreement between the SEC and Webvan, but I am sure the folks at Webvan did not delay putting millions into their pockets out of the goodness of their hearts.

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Mike (profile), 7 Oct 1999 @ 1:21pm

Silly executives
Yeah, I would imagine that the folks in the Webvan offices are probably not in a very good mood this morning... Of course, it's amusing to note that one of the "postive" notes that Webvan keeps receiving is that they've got such a strong, experienced management team. How such a team could then go out and get accused of "jumping the gun" and revealing additional info in the road show says something about how seriously these execs take the whole IPO process: they don't. They know it's going to get them rich, and they just want to get it done with.
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Oct 1999 @ 10:21am

Re: Silly executives
All the more interesting since Webvan's new CEO is George Shaheen, former managing partner of Andersen Consulting, who got lured away for a salary of $500K plus (the rumor goes) 5% of Webvan's likely 4 billion plus valuation.

As a former drone in the Andersen Collective, a few comments:

1) AC, like the other Big 5's, is a partnership. Playing diplomat to squabbling partners is a LOT different than pleasing the market, and George's inexperience in his new role is showing in the amateurish violations of the SEC quiet period

2) Shaheen has done a very good job of growing Andersen's business of sending armies of charcoal-suit clad consultants out to fortune 500 clients. However, his management style is very hierarchical and rigid, it makes you wonder if a man who can turn out solid 15% growth on a reputation of extreme corporate conservatism is the best choice for the type of manic internet-start up growth the Webvan fans are talking about.

Watching WBVN from arm's length...
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