The New VC Mantra: It's ‘Time to IPO’

“It’s time to build” became the rallying cry of venture capitalists after Marc Andreessen published his blog post in 2020, as the economy was reeling from the pandemic’s outbreak. More than three years later, a new one has entered the mix: It’s “time to IPO,” wrote Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of investment firm Altimeter Capital, in a post on X this week.

His comments added to a barrage of tweets from other investors lauding Instacart’s highly anticipated initial public offering earlier this week, which raised $660 million and delivered a much needed bout of optimism to startup land. The reaction showed just how eager investors are for good news, given that the Instacart IPO slashed 75% from the company’s last private valuation and left some late investors underwater. Ouch. 

This year, when few private companies beyond a Mediterranean fast-food chain Cava have braved the public markets and investors are desperate for cash returns, they celebrated the Instacart IPO despite its many imperfections. Investors have accepted that in a post–zero-interest-rate market, there’s no perfect IPO window. Now they just have to convince the growing stable of IPO-ready startups to do the same.