Angie’s List Inc., a website that provides consumer reviews of plumbers, electricians and other services, is preparing
to file in August for an initial public offering, said two people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The Indianapolis-based company has chosen Bank of America Corp. to lead the IPO, according to the sources, who declined to
be identified because the process is private. The size of the offering hasn’t yet been decided, one person said.
Angie’s List would join the biggest surge in Internet share sales since the dot-com boom a decade ago. A dozen Internet
companies have gone public this year, the most in any year since 2000, when the first wave of Web IPOs reached its height.
Selling shares would help Angie’s List compete against daily-deal and consumer-review websites, including Yelp Inc.,
Facebook Inc. and Groupon Inc.
Cheryl Reed, a spokeswoman for Angie’s List, declined to comment. John Yiannacopoulos, a spokesman for Charlotte, N.C.-based
Bank of America, also had no comment.
Angie’s List hired Code Advisors last year to help it choose bankers, CEO Bill Oesterle said in an April interview.
The company has turned down buyout offers from public companies, Oesterle said at the time.
This spring, Angie's List added management and board firepower likely intended to help win over investors should the company move ahead an IPO.
Silicon Valley startup veteran Keith Krach became chairman and Robert Millard became chief financial officer. Millard formerly
was chief financial officer of local firms FinishMaster Inc. and Personnel Management Inc.
On the same day as those announcements, Oesterle confirmed the possibility of an IPO: “We are certainly reaching a
size, and have opportunities in front of us that are causing us to consider very seriously a public offering. We could make
that decision this year.”
Founded in 1995 by Angie Hicks and Oesterle, Angie’s List provides ratings and reviews to 1.5 million paying members for more than 500 types of businesses.
The company, which now has about 650 employees, continues to grow and is eyeing about 30 possible expansion sites.
In March, Angie’s List said it raised $53.6 million in a private share offering. Last year, Angie’s List said
it raised $25 million from investors including venture firms Battery Ventures, Saints Capital and Wasatch Funds.
Online-radio service Pandora Media Inc. and professional- networking site LinkedIn Corp. have gone public in the past month.
Several Indiana companies also appeared poised for IPOs.
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You have what appears to be some solid details with inside information. Were you burned by AL? If so, screw'em if they can't take a joke.
Would you rather discuss ExactTarget, employing hundreds of users to write email? Talk about overkill with a chainsaw.
How about the ego of Biglari? Via his actions, is he trying to look like a young Warren Buffet?
If you're still into the fun of start-ups (my last two jobs), then I suggest Verge: http://www.meetup.com/vergeindy/.
N.B. they only have slots for 200 people (fire codes) to RSVP (online) with nearly 1k (people ... The meetings are near the end of each month (June hasn't occurred yet), they have free beer & pizza, and finally, they are co-sponsoring:
theinnovationshowcase.com, July 12. No restrictions on the crowd size.
It'll be hosted by DeveloperTown developertown.com). It's (supposed to be) a huge incubator in Broad Ripple. I've missed going at earlier sessions, but I'm quite curious to see it, particularly when it comes to the number of people it can accommodate.
Me? Unless DT can show me something awesome with a low price, I'm going with the shoestring approach. We've arranged our finances such that we can live on my wife's income. Google hosts sites, you can run Python, Java, or Go (too early for some people. I'm tending to look at Python because Guido works at Google. And move forward. I can always transfer all of the existing work to a co-lo such as DT. There's only one thing I can't and likely can't learn, but that's not going to happen immediately (fingers-crossed).
Cheers,
newsworthiness@gmail.com
I've never understood this company's growth. They lay off 100 employees one year, then receive major investments from Silicon Valley the same year. Then they lay off 250 employees the following year, and receive major money again, and again.
Does anybody else, other than the Harvard MBA's that run Angie's List, think the current rush of internet IPO's has something to do with these companies running out of money? Do they all just need an influx of cash to survive?