IPOs without profits

What do Pinterest, Lyft, Uber and Slack have in common? Yes, they're all newly public or about to make their initial public offerings. But they also share a common characteristic on the bottom line -- proceeding with their IPOs with lots of revenue and growth but, so far at least, without the consistent profits to show for it.

And they're part of a trend. Eighty-three percent of IPOs in the first three quarters of 2018 were made by companies that hadn't posted profits in the prior 12 months. 

So what's the future of these companies? On this episode of the GeekWire Podcast, we're joined by someone who has spent a lot of time looking at the financials of many of these companies: Ben Gilbert, co-founder of Seattle's Pioneer Square Labs, and co-host of the podcast Acquired, which tells the stories of major companies, acquisitions and IPOs. He and his co-host David Rosenthal have been focusing on these companies on their recent episodes, starting with Lyft and Pinterest.

Since we recorded this episode, Slack has also released its S-1 registration statement, revealing a $138.9 million net loss in its most recent fiscal year.

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