Game On

You will read many stories today about how LinkedIn’s unexpectedly monstrous debut means that everything has changed.  They are all true.  The money is no longer theoretical, it is real.

LinkedIn scored a $10 billion valuation.

Can you imagine if Facebook’s IPO was scheduled for today?  It would probably open at $150 billion based on the Animal Spirits on display yesterday.  Twitter’s value probably just jumped 30%. Kayak’s in the on-deck circle, so is Yelp.  Groupon, forget about it.  Yandex, a Russian search giant, is coming public next week perhaps.

The bars were packed all over New York and Northern California last night.  Congratulatory texts and emails ricocheted between the iPads and iPhones of the founder and angel crowd.  Everyone is in or knows someone who is in.  The atmosphere is electric, the moment is major.

This ain’t SecondMarket we’re taking about, this is Wall Street Money.  The tone has been set, the IPO window has not only opened – investors have just tossed a trash can through it.

It is Game On.

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