Upwork IPO October 3

[alphazomgy]

Upwork will begin trading publicly on the Nasdaq October 3. 

Shares of Upwork (stock symbol UPWK) are expected to be between $10 and $12.

There will be 12,270,000 shares issued, giving Upwork a market cap of slightly over 1 billion dollars.

One instinution has already commited to buying 27 million USD of Upwork's stock. Looks good!

Fun fact: Upwork competitor Freelancer is down over 60% since it's IPO. (Which makes sense, everyone knows it's a content mill.)

Anyone plan on investing in Upwork's IPO? I've been investing in Amazon lately, but I'm thinking about going all in on Upwork.

More info here:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208072-upwork-ipo-valuation-update

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208191-upwork-ipo-looks-quite-undervalued-11

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208253-upwork-readies-proposed-terms-135-million-ipo

[ilyas2010]

Wonderful info!

[wlyonsatl]

That's great news. Their SEC filings will make interesting reading.

[purplepony]

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@Alexander B wrote:

Upwork will begin trading publicly on the Nasdaq October 3. 

Shares of Upwork (stock symbol UPWK) are expected to be between $10 and $12.

There will be 12,270,000 shares issued, giving Upwork a market cap of slightly over 1 billion dollars.

One instinution has already commited to buying 27 million USD of Upwork's stock. Looks good!

Fun fact: Upwork competitor Freelancer is down over 60% since it's IPO. (Which makes sense, everyone knows it's a content mill.)

Anyone plan on investing in Upwork's IPO? I've been investing in Amazon lately, but I'm thinking about going all in on Upwork.

More info here:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208072-upwork-ipo-valuation-update

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208191-upwork-ipo-looks-quite-undervalued-11

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208253-upwork-readies-proposed-terms-135-million-ipo

___________________________________________________________________________

Alexander, thanks for the updated information.  However, IMO it's not wise to go "all in" on anything.  Diversification is key.

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[wendy_writes]

Interesting that the Upwork article (#2 in the supplied list) fails to mention their main competitor - G**u.  See page 3 for the sites Upwork indicates are direct competitors - which, FWIW, many of us will differ with.

The 3rd article supplied stats and lists the following: "Major competitors that provide or are developing a freelance platform include:  

Source: (https://seekingalpha.com/article/4208253-upwork-readies-proposed-terms-135-million-ipo?page=2)

• Freelancer (FLN.AX)
• Freelance.com
• The Adecco Group
• Randstad (RAND.AS)
• LinkedIn (MSFT)
• GitHub
• PayPal (PYPL)"

[colettelewis]

It would astonish me though, if Upwork were to open its doors to the general public - I imagine the invitation will go out to institutions rather than the man/woman in the street. 

I think that this has probably been on the roadmap ever since the merger with Elance. I also wonder if the highest (perhaps winning) bidder will have the interest of every Upwork client and freelancer in its sights. I would have thought that the focus would be on streamlining and lightening the load. 

Upwork is slow in recognizing the change in the freelancing dynamic. Nobody really wants to support a workforce that has palpably  little to no experience in the business world - whether that workforce is buying or selling. 

[wendy_writes]

Nichola,  as memory serves, yes - going public was very much a part of eLance's plans.

[wlyonsatl]

Nichola,

Going public means any investor will soon be able to buy Upwork's shares on the open market. Some institutional investors who have been able to buy Upwork's private shares in the past now want to selll some of those shares to the general public. 

Of the 12.2 million shares included in the upcoming offering, Upwork itself is selling 6.8 million new shares and its current shareholders are selling 5.5 million existing shares. Upwork will not receive any money from the sale of these existing shareholders' shares. 

On pages 163/164 of the company's S/1 amended filing you can see which shareholders are selling with a company affiliated with a company called FirstMark Capital selling 78% of the 5.5 million shares it currently owns.The other four institutional shareholders listed are not including their shares in this transaction. It appears only one company insider - Hayden Brown - is selling some shares.

[versailles]

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@Will L wrote:

Some institutional investors who have been able to buy Upwork's private shares in the past now want to selll some of those shares to the general public. 

---

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes, this happens when investors see a company as not having the potential to become profitable in a foreseeable future. They sell it to Mom-and-Pop investors, who think they are buying the next Google-like unicorn.

I totally hope this is not the reason behind this IPO.

[alphazomgy]

One of those articles I mentioned in my OG post says Upwork will be above the 1 billion dollar market cap, which is supposed to be the amount required to be considered a unicorn investment.

With the way IPOs have been going lately, I'm expecting Upwork to pop or drop by a huge amount during the first week.

I doubt many instituional investors will be able to understand Upwork the way we freelancers/small business owners do, which is unfortunate. But the fact is Upwork has changed lives on a global scale.

There are people from Pakistan getting paid over $30/hr on this platform. (Using that as an example because when I saw that my mind was blown.) That's amazing. The difference Upwork is making in the lives of people on a global scale can't be measured using SEC filings or earnings reports.

[versailles]

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@Alexander B wrote:

There are people from Pakistan getting paid over $30/hr on this platform. (Using that as an example because when I saw that my mind was blown.) That's amazing. The difference Upwork is making in the lives of people on a global scale can't be measured using SEC filings or earnings reports.

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This is true. But Upwork needs to be profitable in order to allow FLers in Pakistan to earn $30/h and to change people's lives.

If Upwork makes money, institutional investors will continue supporting the platform. If Upwork keeps losing money, they will dump it.

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Alexander B wrote:The difference Upwork is making in the lives of people on a global scale can't be measured using SEC filings or earnings reports.

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 That.

The "changing lives" thing is why I am a believer in Upwork, for all its sometimes totally infuriating flaws.

Finding Upwork quite by accident led to a path which led to me being able to live my dream. 

I'm going to buy a bunch of those shares. Might as well own some of the thing that (literally) changed my life.

[versailles]

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@Petra R wrote:

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I'm going to buy a bunch of those shares. Might as well own some of the thing that (literally) changed my life.

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 I may too, a symbolic quantity. Just for the fun. I don't mind losing $10 for the fun.

[wendy_writes]

I have to agree with Rene's approach.  😄

[colettelewis]

I just have a feeling this is not how it is going to work, in spite of what Will says. We could all afford to buy one share. The same as a "premium" account. If I were a company "going public", this is not at all what I would wish for!! 

[wlyonsatl]

Wendy and Rene.

Good luck with your investment.

According to a filing with the SEC today, Upwork and some of its shareholders are selling 12.3 million shares (about 12% of Upwork’s total shares) in the upcoming IPO. In April 2019 the other 91.8 million of Upwork’s shares “’will become eligible for sale in the public market.”

Assuming the IPO price per share is $12, the total value of the offering will be $148 million. Investment funds related to a company called Dragoneer have offered to buy “up to” $32 million of these shares, so there is apparently a big buyer waiting in the wings.

For the first six months of 2018, Upwork lost $7.2 million on $107 million in revenue, compared to net income of $1.4 million on $84 million in revenue for the same period in 2017.

On Page 70 of today’s filing Upwork notes, “While continued use of our platform by freelancers is a factor that impacts our ability to attract and retain clients, our platform currently has a significant surplus of freelancers in relation to the number of clients actively engaging freelancers. For example, in 2017, approximately 375,000 freelancers completed projects through our platform and every day on average approximately 10,000 independent professionals and agencies applied to join our platform. On the client side, in 2017, we had 86,400 core clients, which represented approximately 80% of our GSV. As a result of this surplus of freelancers relative to core clients, we primarily focus our efforts on retaining client spend and acquiring new clients as opposed to acquiring new freelancers and retaining existing freelancers. Moreover, we generate revenue when clients engage and pay freelancers and therefore our key metrics and operating results are directly impacted by client spend. On the other hand, the number of freelancers retained between periods is merely one of many factors that may impact client spend in a particular period and is not directly related to our key metrics and operating results. For these reasons, we do not calculate or track freelancer retention metrics in order to manage our business.”

[versailles]

Upwork SEC filling (draft version):

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 6, 2018

[wlyonsatl]

This is the most recent version of the public document on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1627475/000119312518288470/d575528ds1a.htm

It is still "Subject to Completion," so another version could be filed.

[purplepony]

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@Will L wrote:

Wendy and Rene.

Good luck with your investment.

According to a filing with the SEC today, Upwork and some of its shareholders are selling 12.3 million shares (about 12% of Upwork’s total shares) in the upcoming IPO. In April 2019 the other 91.8 million of Upwork’s shares “’will become eligible for sale in the public market.”

Assuming the IPO price per share is $12, the total value of the offering will be $148 million. Investment funds related to a company called Dragoneer have offered to buy “up to” $32 million of these shares, so there is apparently a big buyer waiting in the wings.

For the first six months of 2018, Upwork lost $7.2 million on $107 million in revenue, compared to net income of $1.4 million on $84 million in revenue for the same period in 2017.

On Page 70 of today’s filing Upwork notes, “While continued use of our platform by freelancers is a factor that impacts our ability to attract and retain clients, our platform currently has a significant surplus of freelancers in relation to the number of clients actively engaging freelancers. For example, in 2017, approximately 375,000 freelancers completed projects through our platform and every day on average approximately 10,000 independent professionals and agencies applied to join our platform. On the client side, in 2017, we had 86,400 core clients, which represented approximately 80% of our GSV. As a result of this surplus of freelancers relative to core clients, we primarily focus our efforts on retaining client spend and acquiring new clients as opposed to acquiring new freelancers and retaining existing freelancers. Moreover, we generate revenue when clients engage and pay freelancers and therefore our key metrics and operating results are directly impacted by client spend. On the other hand, the number of freelancers retained between periods is merely one of many factors that may impact client spend in a particular period and is not directly related to our key metrics and operating results. For these reasons, we do not calculate or track freelancer retention metrics in order to manage our business.”

___________________________________________________________________________

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"...As a result of this surplus of freelancers relative to core clients, we primarily focus our efforts on retaining client spend and acquiring new clients as opposed to acquiring new freelancers and retaining existing freelancers...."

The aforementioned statement is obvious.  However, I'll never understand why Upwork doesn't do more to retain those of us who have been successful on the platform and/or weed out the dead wood so to speak.  I suggest that it'd be to everyone's advantage if they did so.  

[alphazomgy]

@Pat 

I think success alone is enough to incentivize most freelancers to stay on Upwork.

The only thing I could see them doing is giving free membership. 

EDIT: In the past week Upwork's IPO price has been raised from between $10 and $12, to between $12 and $14, and now to $15! 

Not pleased 'tall. 

[reinierb]

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@Alexander B wrote:

@Pat 

I think success alone is enough to incentivize most freelancers to stay on Upwork.

The only thing I could see them doing is giving free membership. 

EDIT: In the past week Upwork's IPO price has been raised from between $10 and $12, to between $12 and $14, and now to $15! 

Not pleased 'tall. 

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 Why would a higher share price be displeasing? 

[purplepony]

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@Alexander B wrote:

@Pat 

I think success alone is enough to incentivize most freelancers to stay on Upwork.

The only thing I could see them doing is giving free membership. 

EDIT: In the past week Upwork's IPO price has been raised from between $10 and $12, to between $12 and $14, and now to $15! 

Not pleased 'tall.

___________________________________________________________________________Of course success is of assistance!  I'm more so referring to some policies/procedures.  Perhaps you'll better understand my statements when you've been on the platform longer and have had more/continued opportunity to learn about the platform.    

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[wendy_writes]

Link from email on official offering email that U sent to FLers - the current ad announcement

https://www.upwork.com/blog/2018/10/freelancers-times-square/?utm_source=responsys&utm_medium=email&...

[colettelewis]

$14 eh? The bidding's on then ... an interesting price if you compare the prices paid by Comcast for Sky.  

@Wendy.

I do hope Upwork asked permission of the freelancers it showcased on its "global" advertising campaign, and that it did not inadvertently include those who are blocked from bidding on US jobs and now, UK jobs. 

[wendy_writes]

We shared the same reaction.  🙂  Did each and every freelancer featured sign an agreement and receive SAG wages?

[colettelewis]

It is also interesting that certain freelancers have been approached  with offers to buy - I find that really strange in view of Upwork's statement in the last filing that it considered its freelancers to be expendable assets and retention was not in its business interests. 

A little while ago, I put the possibility of buying to my broker, and he said ... 

[wendy_writes]

Release forms were sent to FLers who chose to participate.  I scanned Valeria's posts on this under Announcements/

Unknown on payments to them.

[purplepony]

Participating FL's were also asked to comment about the announcement within Lena's Announcement thread.  No wonder I didn't recognize/know of 99 9/10% + of them-lol!

[creativedigit]

Heads spinning on a building with names underneath. I bet some Americans thought this is the new Tinder.

[purplepony]

I found this article "Upwork: Steer Clear" that was published this morning to be quite interesting on many levels.  

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4210047-upwork-steer-clear

[mwiggenhorn]

I read the previous two or three articles in this publication earlier in the week.  Interesting.

[88e0cda1]

#Offer

Hi, I am Gayrat Khudoyberdiev

I want to mention to the upwok.com team.

Could the Upwork team open access to buy their stocks from the upwork.com web site. It will be very wonderful to increase money from the inside of web site.

I mean that, From the passage of the report in the overview link. There may be a link to buy Upwork stocks, without leaving the web site. By your available money.

Could anyone from the Upwork team answer this #offer?

Thanks to the community in advance

[VladimirG]

Hi Gayrat,

Thanks for the suggestion. Upwork stock is available for purchase via the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol, UPWK.

[lopezdp]

im so upset i didnt find out about this sooner!