Gerry Smith decided against taking his software company public after a house fire prompted a rethink — he ended up selling it for $100 million.
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You're sitting in an office, board members glancing at you anxiously and those bankers breathing down your neck. That very hour, you're going to have to make your final decision. Then, without warning, you get a call to tell you that your family home is on fire with your children inside. "It was just like, 'Oh my gosh, could this be more inconvenient?' I had to step outside, and call my wife, and settle everything down. Shelley had wisely looked after everything and just wanted to make sure I knew the kids were safe."
Ultimately, Smith says the incident was the catalyst for him calling off the IPO. He reflects on it as a good decision, noting that one of his biggest rivals went public around the same time — the stock took off initially, climbing to $7 billion, but then dropped like a stone to less than $100 million, he says.
"There was considerable pressure on me to sign from the banks. Their fees would have come from the IPO. So there's the pressure from the banks; you feel kind of obligated to them; and all of a sudden it's like cold water thrown in your face. It was like 'holy s**t! My kids; my house.'Smith is at pains to emphasise he didn't reach his decision without input from Changepoint's board.
"Two weeks after we decided not to IPO, I got a call from this head banker. He said 'Gerry - I understand why you had to do what you had to do, but I've got a $70,000 private jet bill sitting in front of me. I think this is your cost.' Of course, the contract I had signed with the bank had made clear that it wasn't my cost.
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