'We're going for it', Ed confides to his diary, 'it's good to be home after that bloody dog and pony show. What a royal pain in the arse. All those thin-lipped, cold-eyed jerks asking shitty questions aimed at screwing things up.'
'The VCs say responses coming in from the road-show make them and the underwriters think they can price the issue at the top end of expectations - around $20 a share,' writes Ed, 'a last minute patent infringement law-suit from those so-and-sos at LinSilicon won't have any effect.'
'The VCs point out that last-minute lawsuits before an IPO are an old trick aimed at limiting the proceeds a rival might raise - the financial markets take no notice of it. Apparently when Wolfson Microelectronics was going public they received a patent law-suit from Cirrus Logic just before the IPO', says Ed, 'the market ignores this crap as an obvious spoiler.'
'So, by the end of the week, I'll be worth $10 million', writes Ed, 'the wife used to be excited by it though she's not been airing her money-squandering plans lately. In fact she's gone off to stay with her mother who's sick.'
'My post-IPO strategy is simple - I've got a case of 1985 Lafite and I'm going to knock it back at my mate's place after the markets close on Friday.'
'Only four days to the IPO, and I'll be rolling in akkers like a dog on dung.'
If the VCs reckon they can price the issue at the top end, then Ed must have done some impressive presentations. May be he is good at something after all?
Always remember that someone like Ed is hired to deliver best returns for his bosses, i.e. the VCs, - not to ensure future successes or keep people much lower down the pecking order employed.
Well sometimes VCs like plonkers, Outsider, and they've stuck with Ed all this time so they must have some confidence in him.But these things are unfathomable and IPOs are notoriously fickle and subject to fashion.