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Lyft Prepares to Launch IPO

on February 21, 2019

Santosh Rao, the head of research at the merchant bank Manhattan Venture Partners told Business Insider, “Lyft has the clear early-mover advantage, and they will definitely get the benefit of the doubt. No one knows how to value these companies. Is it a software company? Is it a car company? Is it a service?”

Business Insider has also reported, “Rao, who specializes in late-stage, pre-IPO company research, says the most accurate comparison is to platform companies, such as Etsy or Alibaba. Based on these multiples, Rao’s firm estimates a fair value of Lyft to be $19 billion to $20 billion.”

Term Sheet — Thursday, January 10 – Conflicts of Interest

on January 11, 2019

The reason VCs typically try to avoid doing competitive deals is that it creates perceived (if not actual) confidentiality issues, companies have to worry about how much info to share with investors who are also close with their biggest competitor, and it just simply looks bad.

“It’s very unusual to allow the same parties to invest and get information rights of sworn mortal enemies,” Max Wolff, chief economist at Manhattan Venture Partners, told Reuters in 2016 when some of these investor conflicts began to emerge.

These companies are planning gigantic IPOs. The market might stop them

on January 3, 2019

“The volatility will remain for a bit and elongate the timeline for an IPO,” said Jared Carmel, managing partner with Manhattan Venture Partners, a firm that researches and invests in private companies. “But it’s also our belief that this won’t last forever. The market is just taking a breather,” added Carmel, who said his company currently has stakes in Lyft, Palantir, Airbnb and subscription clothing firm Rent the Runway. Carmel said it’s important for investors to look closely at the fundamentals and valuations of any private companies that consider an IPO. He noted his firm decided to invest in Lyft, not Uber,because the latter was too expensive and had some high profile problems during the tenure of former CEO Travis Kalanick. “Uber is priced to perfection and it’s not a perfect company,” Carmel said, although he added that Uber has taken promising steps since Dara Khosrowshahi took over as CEO. He cited the company’s decision to scale back in some international markets and invest more in its UberEats food delivery service.

Why Investors Should be Wary as the Unicorns Finally Seek IPOs

on December 26, 2018

A major test will come early next year if Lyft and Uber go public. Both companies have made preliminary, confidential filings for IPOs. Manhattan Venture Partners, an IPO research firm, assigns a “fair market value” of $19 billion to Lyft and pegs Uber’s value at $52 billion, partly based on its 17.5% equity stake in Chinese ride-sharing service Didi Chuxing. Based on their most recent private-market fund raising, Lyft was valued at $15.1 billion, and Uber, at $76 billion.

The Key to Lyft’s IPO Could Be Happier Drivers

on December 19, 2018

“Uber thought they’ll just kind of grow their business and these guys will go away,” says Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Partners LLC. Now, “Lyft is in a strong competitive position.”

PAPER CHASING: HOW ONE MAN INFLUENCED YOUR FAVORITE RAPPERS’ MOGUL MINDSET

on December 17, 2018

Morehouse man and former Wall Street executive, Rashaun Williams identified a way to not only shift the Baller Mindset to a Mogul Mindset with a core program and visionary knack for investment.

Lyft is quickly catching up to Uber in the US as the ride-hailing companies race to go public

on December 13, 2018

Santosh Rao, an analyst at Manhattan Venture Partners, has called this the “free rider effect.”

“The company was able to focus more time and resources on marketing its specific brand whilst Uber had to bear the responsibility of building consumer awareness around ride-hailing/sharing and establishing a new service category,” he said in a note to clients this week.

“Lyft has also benefited from the aggressiveness Uber displayed in pushing for a legal framework for ridesharing applications. This meant lower risk levels for Lyft while entering a new city that already had Uber.”

Uber’s Dominant Size May Rob Smaller Lyft of Its IPO Oxygen

on December 12, 2018

Uber has a history of maneuvering to one-up Lyft so it could appear to be a step ahead of its business rival. In 2014, as Lyft was preparing to launch its carpooling service, Uber rushed to publicly announce its own carpool, even though it did not have the service ready, according to people familiar with the matter.

Uber must be thinking it “did all the heavy lifting, took all the risks,” said Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Partners, a Lyft investor. “They can’t let Lyft take the credit and define the expectations of investors.”

Lyft has a ‘clear early-mover advantage’ in beating Uber to an IPO

on December 6, 2018

“Lyft has the clear early-mover advantage, and they will definitely get the benefit of the doubt,” Santosh Rao, head of research at the merchant bank Manhattan Venture Partners, told Business Insider. “No one knows how to value these companies. Is it a software company? Is it a car company? Is it a service?”

How One Investor Built A Career In Venture Capital By Bridging Culture, Sports And Technology

on November 27, 2018

While recent volatility in the stock market illustrates some investor uncertainty in public companies, investors in private companies continue to push big chips into fast growing businesses that are becoming household names. Recently, I had an opportunity to interview Rashaun Williams, a Los Angeles-based venture capitalist and General Partner at the MVP All-Star Fund.

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