????筆者最早認(rèn)識(shí)里斯?拜爾是在第一輪互聯(lián)網(wǎng)泡沫時(shí)的90年代末，當(dāng)時(shí)她是瑞士信貸（Credit Suisse）炙手可熱的科技分析師。自從2000年退出華爾街成為一名風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資人后，拜爾淡出了公眾視線——但她一直活躍于初創(chuàng)企業(yè)圈內(nèi)。如今她管理下的咨詢公司Class V Group專為擬上市公司提供咨詢輔導(dǎo)。筆者曾經(jīng)問過拜爾是否愿意在Postcards上分享她的寶貴經(jīng)驗(yàn)。如今Groupon IPO上市在即，能夠邀請(qǐng)到作為Class V Group創(chuàng)始合伙人的拜爾談?wù)処PO成功要訣也算是一件應(yīng)景的事兒。

????我在金融界第一線工作了二十年之久——?dú)v任華爾街分析師、機(jī)構(gòu)投資者、上市公司董事以及谷歌（Google）上市時(shí)的高管——對(duì)IPO有深入了解：管理團(tuán)隊(duì)常常會(huì)為一些小小的失誤付出高昂代價(jià)，并承受由此帶來的長(zhǎng)期不利影響。市場(chǎng)的劇烈震蕩是不可控的，但是精明的團(tuán)隊(duì)總是能夠精心謀劃，順利實(shí)現(xiàn)上市。我現(xiàn)在在Class V Group為擬上市公司提供咨詢服務(wù)。下面是成功實(shí)現(xiàn)IPO的要訣，它們適用于任何市場(chǎng)：

????1. 不要太早上市。如果下一個(gè)季度的業(yè)績(jī)并不明朗，說明你的公司還沒有做好準(zhǔn)備。如果開窗的結(jié)果是直接從四樓掉了下去的話，“打開上市窗口”不一定是好事。這事問問芯片制造商Sequans Communications、3D電影技術(shù)公司RealD、光子集成電路制造商N(yùn)eoPhotonics或地理定位服務(wù)供應(yīng)商TeleNav的人就知道了。這些公司上市伊始業(yè)績(jī)便不如預(yù)期，股價(jià)慘淡。遭受損失的投資者發(fā)起怒來比地獄烈焰更可怕。

????2. 保證會(huì)計(jì)賬目處于最佳狀態(tài)。女子樂隊(duì)至上組合（The Supremes）曾經(jīng)唱過一首歌，叫做愛不能操之過急（You can't hurry love）。愛情需要和風(fēng)細(xì)雨，但審計(jì)必須快馬加鞭。想2012年上市嗎？外聘的會(huì)計(jì)師事務(wù)所現(xiàn)在就可以忙活起來了。審計(jì)未完成是導(dǎo)致IPO計(jì)劃延遲的頭號(hào)因素。

????3. 不要急于展示最好的一面。太多即將上市的公司都竭力想在報(bào)備文件中放入缺乏可持續(xù)性的高利潤(rùn)率數(shù)據(jù)。投資者可不是傻瓜：他們買股票是看預(yù)期，而不是現(xiàn)在的業(yè)績(jī)。如果上市前的業(yè)績(jī)已經(jīng)全力以赴，那么上市后公司的利潤(rùn)率和股價(jià)只能有一個(gè)走勢(shì)。看看第1點(diǎn)。

????4. 聘請(qǐng)承銷商要看投行家本人，而不是金字招牌。假設(shè)你正在考慮從幾家口碑不錯(cuò)的投行中做選擇，應(yīng)該看重的是未來一起共事的銀行家本人，而不是宣傳資料里所說的該投行上年達(dá)成的熱門交易。我常常看到摩根士丹利（Morgan Stanley）和瑞士信貸的宣傳冊(cè)中濃墨重彩地宣傳谷歌IPO，但實(shí)際上，在高盛（Goldman Sachs）、花旗集團(tuán)（Citigroup）、瑞銀（UBS）等工作的大多數(shù)投行家們不過是些在高爾夫球場(chǎng)上浪費(fèi)光陰的家伙。

????5. 上路前先檢點(diǎn)一下自己的行為。投資者對(duì)于人的關(guān)注不亞于數(shù)字。而且，人們往往更熱衷于打聽前者。如果網(wǎng)上有一些關(guān)于你的八卦信息，他們會(huì)看到的。比如，目前在未平倉(cāng)空倉(cāng)額排行榜上位居前列的就有一家公司，其首席執(zhí)行官喜歡將自己的打獵照片貼在網(wǎng)上。在這些照片中有一張他在一頭鹿旁邊開懷大笑的照片，后來被曝這個(gè)獵物是他非法侵入私人領(lǐng)地時(shí)射殺的。完了！如今背景調(diào)查只需輕輕一點(diǎn)鼠標(biāo)即可。想上市？現(xiàn)在就要做好這方面的準(zhǔn)備了。具體來說：

????? 更新個(gè)人網(wǎng)絡(luò)賬戶的狀態(tài)一欄時(shí)要謹(jǐn)慎。如果有一天你像谷歌的埃里克?施密特或星巴克（Starbucks）首席執(zhí)行官霍華德?舒爾茨一樣已經(jīng)功成名就，那你大可隨時(shí)利用名人效應(yīng)宣揚(yáng)你的政治主張。但在此之前，還是管住自己的嘴巴。為什么要趕走一半的潛在投資者呢？

????? 清理照片鏈接。不要勾選Facebook的照片加標(biāo)簽選項(xiàng)。現(xiàn)在就行動(dòng)。

????? 簡(jiǎn)化公眾形象。你的年齡和薪水將會(huì)列入招股書，然而，還有一些信息，可能你并不想昭告天下，但卻能在網(wǎng)上能免費(fèi)獲取。在外人知道你的凈資產(chǎn)值之前，登陸Reputation.com網(wǎng)站，掃描個(gè)人隱私。如果你不想人人都知道你的孩子在哪所小學(xué)上學(xué)——或者你在朋友圈里是賭馬高手——現(xiàn)在就聘請(qǐng)Reputation.com公司為你做好保密工作。

????如果要問我的最佳建議？不要分心于短期波動(dòng)。應(yīng)看重于長(zhǎng)期，相信自己出色的判斷力。

????I knew Lise Buyer when she was a hotshot technology analyst at Credit Suisse (CS) in the late 1990s, during the first Internet bubble. Since quitting Wall Street in 2000 to become a venture capitalist, Buyer has been low-profile--but she's active in the world of startups. She now runs Class V Group, guiding IPO-bound companies. I asked Buyer if she'd share her advice on Postcards. Today, the eve of Groupon's IPO, seems an ideal time to pass on the wisdom of Buyer, Founding Principal of Class V Group, on doing a successful IPO:

????Twenty years on the front lines of the finance world--as a Wall Street analyst, an institutional investor, public company board member and Google (GOOG) executive when it went public--led me to understand this about initial public offerings: Management teams frequently make small mistakes that have large, expensive, long-term consequences. Wild swings in the market can't be controlled, but a savvy team can orchestrate a launch that should lead to smooth sailing. Today, at Class V Group, I advise companies that are IPO-bound. Some tips for a successful debut, in any market:

????1. Don't go too soon.If next quarter's results aren't reasonably predictable, your company isn't ready. An "open window" is not beneficial if you step through and free-fall four stories. Just ask the folks at Sequans Communications (SQNS), RealD (RLD), NeoPhotonics (NPTN) or TeleNav (TNAV). Those companies, all publicly traded, have missed earnings expectations right out of the gate, and the stocks got clobbered. Hell hath no fury like an investor burned.

????2. Get your accounting in top shape.The Supremes sang, "You can't hurry love." But love is a breeze compared to accelerating an audit. Want to be public in 2012? Get your outside accountants going NOW. More IPO plans are delayed by incomplete audits than by any other cause.

????3. Don't wear your Sunday best on Tuesday.Too many soon-to-be-public companies strain to publish unsustainably robust margins in their filings. The investors you want are not fools: They buy stocks because of expectations, not current results. If you're pulling out all the P&L stops for deal day, your margins and your stock price can only go one direction. See point 1.

????4. Hire bankers, not logos.Assuming you are choosing from a list of well-regarded firms, pick bankers based on the individuals you'll be working with. Ignore the propaganda showcasing a bank's hot deals from yesteryear. I regularly see pitch books from Morgan Stanley (MS) and Credit Suisse highlighting the Google IPO--but most of the actual bankers now work at Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), UBS (UBS), and elsewhere—or toil on the golf course.

????5. Clean up your act before you take it on the road.Investors care about people as well as numbers. And it's more fun to research the former. If there is available off-topic information about you online, they'll find it. For example, high on a current short-interest list is a company with a CEO prone to posting photos of his hunting exploits. In one of these glamour shots, Big Cheese grins over a deer that, as it turns out, he shot while trespassing. Oops! These days, background checks take a click or two. Want to be public later? Deal with this now. Specifically:

????? Review your status updates. Once you are as accomplished as Google's Eric Schmidt or Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz, feel free to use your celebrity to broadcast your political views. Until then, control your prosthelytizing. Why alienate half of your potential investors?

????? Clean up your photo links. And uncheck the Facebook photo-tagging option. Now.

????? Flatten your public profile. Your age and salary will be in the prospectus, but there are likely troves of freely available information that you may not want to share. Before outsiders know your net worth, run the free privacy scan at Reputation.com. If you don't want everyone to know that your kids, Flopsy and Mopsy, attend Local Elementary--or that you were your fraternity's most successful bookie--hire that firm to keep your secrets secret.

????My best advice? Don't get distracted by near-term volatility. Keep the long-term top of mind. And bank on your own good judgment.