Venture-backed IPO activity

I do not know much about initial public offerings (IPO) but one of course hears a lot about them. A 2011 Aug. 20 New York Times article cited data from the National Venture Capital Association that is displayed in an awkward table of mixed yearly and quarterly data. I plotted the data in Excel below.

Insights

1. The rate of IPO activity dropped to virtually nothing in 2008 and 2009.
2. The rate in 2010 returned to its pre-recession level but has increased to about 4 times that recently.
3. The volatility suggests a tech 'bubble,' but given the increasing rates of economic and technological change the word may be losing its meaning.

Original data

Revisions and discussion

• I have used the columns 1 and 6 from the above table.
• The table mixes yearly and quarterly data so that the presentation is redundant and difficult to interpret.
• The yearly estimated quarterly rate of IPO activity was estimated by dividing the first 3 full-year data by 4.
• in order for quarterly data points to appear correctly above their respective years those quarters had to be computed as fractions; e.g. 2008Q1 = 2007.5 + 1/8).
• I prefer bar plots for counts (e.g. of events, as here), but they are not appropriate given the varying time periods.

Source and technology

• 2011 July 1 news release from Thomson Reuters and National Venture Capital Association 'Ventured-backed IPO market activity continues to improve in Q2 2011.'
• Excel 2010 formulas and Insert > Scatter > Straight lines and markers.
• Corel PaintShop Pro.
• Dreamweaver.