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8:30 AM EST, Friday, October 5, 2007: My sister is in town. She's sweet. I managed (and survived) two hours of tennis yesterday. I fixed a friend's computer. I bounced a check for $43,000, but Sovereign Bank covered it. Sweet of them. It's warm as toast in New York. Great biking weather. The techie stocks I've pushed recently -- Anadigics, EMC, Shutterfly, Synchronoss Technology -- are doing well. I'm happy.

This piece comes from something call VentureBeat.

Monster IPO quarter coming — to be biggest since dotcom boom

By Matt Marshall 09.30.07

The economy may croak from the credit crunch, but public offerings and acquisition deals are happening at the fastest pace in years. The fourth quarter is going to be monster.

Some 46 U.S. companies backed by venture capitalist registered during the third quarter to go public, according to research by Dow Jones VentureOne... Not all of them will go public within the next three months, but even if half of them do, that’s way more than in any quarter in recent memory.

If you VCs have been bullish already, these returns on their investments will make them even happier.

See the full report here (downloads Excel, a large file with several tabs) Note that only venture-backed companies are covered here in the research, which means some companies aren’t included. Since the Internet bubble burst, the most IPOs in a single quarter was 24, and that came in this year’s second quarter. Any more than that during the next three months, and the fourth quarter will be the biggest since the boom year of 2000.

Separately, the Dow Jones report shows that 90 venture-backed companies raised more than $10.5 billion in merger and acquisition transactions in the third quarter, a 31 percent increase over the same period last year and the highest quarterly amount since 2000. So far this year, $28.4 billion has been raised via M&A transactions and another $4.7 billion raised in public offerings, all but guaranteeing that this year will be the largest year in the U.S. for venture-backed liquidity —both in terms of IPOs and M&As— since the dotcom boom, said Jessica Canning, Director of Global Research for Dow Jones VentureOne. “Yes, after several years of uncertainty, the ‘venture capital rebound’ is officially over.”

Another interpretation: Maybe its the credit crunch that has everyone in a fluster. Do the deal now, or else….

It was a relatively sleep summer of IPOs, with only 11 companies going public. Still, even that was more active than last year’s nine IPOs.

More biopharmaceutical and medical device companies have filed to go public (22) than information technology companies (18). The number of clean-tech company IPOs in registration (two) looks quite anemic. Internet-Web 2.0 companies aren’t represented among the IPO candidates either.

Another factoid: The largest acquisition — the $812 million purchase of interactive advertising firm Right Media by Yahoo —was more than all the capital raised via IPO during the third quarter. The largest IPO of the quarter belonged to medical software company Athenahealth, which raised $90 million.

The report also shows that the time between initial venture investment and M&A-IPO also reached its highest level ever in the third quarter at seven years for M&As, and 8.5 years for IPOs.

Patience pays: I have a small piece of a private equity fund -- also called a leveraged buyout fund. Two and half years ago, my piece was worth 48% of what I paid for it. I tried to sell it and received offers around 25% of what I paid for it. Two and a half years later, I can sell my piece for what I paid for it, plus 10%. And in another year or two -- based on yesterday's partners' meeting -- I may actually receive as much as 1.7 times my money. There is a solid argument for owning things without a public market. That way you don't get panicked into selling -- which is my big problem.

Meantime, my beloved Garmin -- one day later -- is above what I sold it for and looks on the way back up. Another dumb panic move.

Your computer goes awry -- not IF, but WHEN: One day your PC will act funny. It may lock up. It may simply stop doing things. You need two sets of backups -- one of all your files. You need to make these backups twice a day. And you need to make complete clone of your hard disk -- keeping at least two backups, one month apart. Cloning is critical, because recreating a Windows disk from scratch is painful. Last night I did one for friend, who didn't have a clone, but whose hard disk was a mess. It took me five hours -- and I knew what I was doing, had all the original CDs and had access to a fast line to the Internet. Apricorn is the best place to buy hard disks to backup and hard disks to clone.

Be ultra-careful of sleeping pills. My friend's girlfriend took AmbienCR and promptly started sleep-walking. Other people have driven cars while "sleepwalking" under Ambien. IN the morning they can't remember their previous night's sleep walking in the morning. My friend tried Xanax as a sleep aid. It made him think of planning suicide. I am not a doctor. But all these warnings confirm my basis belief -- get through life, if possible, without pills.

The drumbeats to war with Iran are getting louder. The administration is demonizing Iran, accusing it of all sorts of nasty things -- some of which are undoubtedly true. So far the administration has presented little evidence, just lots of accusations.

Prediction in the stockmarket may be difficult, But you ain't seen anything until you hit the Middle East. All through history, the place gives new meaning to "unintended consequences." Which makes me personally very concerned about bombing, invading, etc. Iran. For the latest on Washington's thinking, read Seymour Hersh's latest piece in The New Yorker magazine.

Floating around Wall Street. This "ad" and the response to it allegedly appeared on Craigslist. I can't find the ad or the response. Also I don't think Rob Campbell works at JPMorgan. Irrespective, the whole thing is funny, if totally apocyphral.

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

THE ANSWER
Dear Pers-:

I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Rob Campbell
J.P.Morgan
Diversified Industrials Investment Banking
277 Park Avenue, 16/F, New York, NY 10172

One day we'll all be there.
A man is driving on the highway when his wife calls him on his cell phone. "Honey, be careful. I heard on the news
that there is a car on the road driving the wrong way."

The man replies, "One? There's millions of 'em!"

This column is about my personal search for the perfect investment. I don't give investment advice. For that you have to be registered with regulatory authorities, which I am not. I am a reporter and an investor. I make my daily column -- Monday through Friday -- freely available for three reasons: Writing is good for sorting things out in my brain. Second, the column is research for a book I'm writing called "In Search of the Perfect Investment." Third, I encourage my readers to send me their ideas, concerns and experiences. That way we can all learn together. My email address is . You can't click on my email address. You have to re-type it . This protects me from software scanning the Internet for email addresses to spam. I have no role in choosing the Google ads. Thus I cannot endorse any, though some look mighty interesting. If you click on a link, Google may send me money. Please note I'm not suggesting you do. That money, if there is any, may help pay Claire's law school tuition. Read more about Google AdSense, click here and here.
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