Twice as Sweet

NetSuite’s IPO was only one of the on-demand victories this week. Plus, a new top hat at Red Hat, a new Wikipedia for Google, another massive quarter for Oracle and more software news of the week.

Oracle software visionary Larry Ellison’s getting a special Christmas present this year. His bet years ago on bankrolling NetSuite as a pioneer in on-demand or software-as-a-service (SaaS) is paying off with this week’s IPO. Now known as N on the New York Stock Exchange, strong demand raised NetSuite’s price per share twice (from $12 to $26 to $37) just days before the IPO.

Ellison is not the only person to win in a big way from the IPO. Founder Evan Goldberg, CEO Zachary Nelson and Ellison’s two adult children have also earned tidy sums.

Ring In Software 2008

Wrap up 2007 on the right foot by registering early for Software 2008. The industry’s must-attend conference will take place on April 29-30 in Las Vegas. Software’s most influential CEOs, top executives, investors and professionals will gather to share insight on the theme for 2008: Communicate, Collaborate & Innovate. Use your 2007 budget to purchase a conference pass before December 31 and qualify for an early-bird discount of $500 off the regular price! Reserve your spot today.

SANDHILL.COM BLOG POST OF THE WEEK:

A Reality Check on NetSuite

NetSuite is adding its name to the mix of public companies investors will have to choose from in the software as a service (SaaS) space. NetSuite is attempting to position itself as an integrated ERP solution for small to medium sized businesses (SMB) versus competition that aims more at a specific application area like accounting (Intuit), sales (salesforce.com), marketing (Vocus) or human resources (Workday).

As with any IPO marketing presentation there is a mix of fact and fiction to be sorted out in terms of what they company real has and can be expected to do. By nature the investment case is an exercise left to the viewer and we will fill in some of the gaps there.