Say Goodbye to Tiny IPOs, Investors Warn

Some of the world’s biggest tech investors have a reality check for companies thinking about going public: While the initial public offering market is showing signs of life, smaller companies that made the cut during the last boom cycle don’t have a shot now.

“There were a lot of companies that went public in the last cycle when there was a lot of exuberance that were too small,” said Anton Levy, co-president of General Atlantic, speaking at The Information’s Private Capital Conference. “Any company that went public at less than a $1 billion market cap, with probably a few exceptions, is probably disappointed that they did,” he added. Levy said IPOs will remain “very selective” this year and the floodgates won’t open like they did two or three years ago.