????上周中國互聯網視頻公司土豆網（Tudou）和前一周云服務公司Carbonite公司成功進行首次公開募股（IPO），好些人不禁向我問起同一個問題：“為什么在如此嚴酷的市場條件下這類公司還要選擇上市？”

????毫無疑問，當前的市場狀況非常兇險。極端波動。不確定性無處不在。對美國經濟的深深憂慮，以及過去幾年間毫無起色的就業市場。投資者們深感緊張。投資者的緊張情緒又造就了艱難的市場環境。

????那么，為什么這些公司仍然要堅持上市呢？過去幾個財季中已經上市，目前正在波濤洶涌的海面上奮力前行的公司近況如何？自2010年1月起，包括土豆網在內，共有11家此類公司完成了公開募股，而對它們來說，這段歷程實在坎坷。

????對這個問題的簡短解答是：上市只是優秀的公司籌集成長資本的一種機制而已。

????公司一旦將大量成長資本注入資產平衡表，就能馬上為公開市場投資者建功。對不會出售新股的股票持有者和管理層來說，新股的價格很重要（因為它們會導致股權稀釋），但與該公司股票在12-36個月后交易價格如何相比，這就不那么重要了。并且，正像我的合伙人格倫?所羅門最近指出的那樣，IPO的短期股價與股票未來的交易情況關系甚微，甚至毫無關系。

????我還記得2008年8月云平臺公司Rackspace公司上市的情景（免責聲明：我的個人賬戶已持有Rackspace公司的股票好幾年了）。當時所謂的IPO市場根本無從談起。純粹是白紙一張，一無所有。實際上，在Rackspace開始上市交易前的一個財季里，沒有一家獲得風投的公司成功上市，而Rackspace則是2009年3月到2010年5月這12個月間唯一一家獲得風投并成功進行IPO的公司。

????Rackspace公司于2008年8月7日正式IPO，上市后股價迅速“敗落”【《財富》雜志（Fortune）的用語，不是我的說法】，并一路下挫（讀者也許還記得，那年秋天開始，我們經歷了史上規模最大的全球性金融危機）。從下圖可以看到，這只股票一路跌至4.5美元：

????With last week's IPO by Chinese Internet video company Tudou (TUDO) and the previous week's IPO by Carbonite (CARB), quite a few people have asked me: "Why would a company go public in such a brutal market?"

????It is indeed a very rough market. Extremely volatile. A lot of uncertainty around the world. Huge concerns about the US economy and a lack of any real progress on employment in the last few years. Investors are nervous. Nervous investors make for rough markets.

????So why are companies still going public? And what about the companies that went public in the last few quarters and are now riding some very choppy seas (we've had 11 of our portfolio companies, including Tudou, complete public offerings since January 2010, and it's been a rough ride for many).

????Here's the short answer: Going public is another mechanism for raising growth capital for a good companies.

????A company puts significant growth capital on its balance sheet and is able to begin establishing a track record with public market investors. For existing shareholders and management who aren't selling any shares in the offering, the price of the offering is important (because they incur dilution), but not as important as where the company's stock is trading 12-36 months later. And, as my partner Glenn Solomon recently pointed out, the near-term price of an IPO has little to no correlation with where the stock trades in the future.

????I remember when Rackspace (RAX) went public in August of 2008 (disclaimer: I have owned shares of Rackspace in my personal account for several years). There was no IPO market to speak of at all. Zip/zero/zilch. In fact, not a single venture-backed company had gone public the quarter before Rackspace began trading, and Rackspace ended up being the only venture-backed IPO within the 12-month period between March 2009 and March 2010.

????RAX launched its IPO on August 7th, 2008, promptly "tanked" (Fortune's words, not mine), and kept going down from there (you may recall, we had one of the largest global financial crises in history that fall). As you can see from the chart below, it traded all the way down to $4.50:

????但是，該公司將1.87億美元注入資產負債表中用于公司成長，并且，憑借其出色的業務基礎，它成為了冉冉升起的市場領導者。你從上圖中可以看到，Rackspace每一財季都對其股票持有人有所回報，最終，上市僅32個月后，其股價就上漲了約10倍。

????千真萬確——在低位購買Rackspace股票的投資者獲得了難以置信的回報，甚至在該股IPO時以12.5美元購入股票的投資者也獲得了3倍以上的回報（當然，前提是他們一直持有該股票）。過去幾個月里，Rackspace的股價略有下挫，但其市值仍然高達40億美元，并且在托管業務和云計算行業，這家公司仍然是市場公認的業界領導者。公司的員工、管理層和早期的股票持有者都獲得了豐厚的回報。

????因此——可以這么回答上述問題：之所以在動蕩的市場中上市，因為公司的業務擁有穩固的基礎，無論市場狀況如何，投資者都會買入，公司能藉IPO此募集到重要的成長資金，轉變為上市公司，并開始取得業績。無須為未來的股價擔憂。市場一定會對業績久經考驗的公司給予回報，而管理層、公司員工和股東都將從中獲益。

????杰夫?理查茲是風險投資公司GGV Capital的合伙人。

????譯者：清遠

????But – the company put $187 million on its balance sheet for growth, and it was an emerging market leader with great business fundamentals. As you can see from the chart, RAX delivered for its shareholders quarter after quarter, eventually rising approximately 10X from its lows a mere 32 months later.

????That's right – shareholders who bought RAX at the lows made an unbelievable return, and even those who bought at the IPO price of $12.50 made 3X+ on their money (if they held). RAX has traded down a bit in the past few months, but still sports a $4 billion market cap and is a recognized leader in the hosting and cloud computing industries. Its employees, management and early shareholders have been generously rewarded.

????So – to answer the question: You go public in a choppy market because your business has strong fundamentals that investors will buy into regardless, you raise important growth capital, and begin establishing a track record as a public company. (Don’t???) Worry about the share price down the road. The market typically rewards companies for great performance over time, and management, employees and shareholders benefit.

????Jeff Richards (@jrichlive) is a partner with venture capital firm GGV Capital.