公司老板召集手下Lisa和Ken开会，商量公司上市的问题。上市有哪些风险呢？Ken说，
K: Well, the day we offer stock for sale is the day we will see how much faith there is in our company. If people don't think we're very valuable they won't buy our stock. And if no one buys our stock we'll lose a lot of prestige.
L: I think I see the wisdom in Jerry's logic. I see our company as entering a transitory period. We've done very well so far but if we want to see serious growth it might be time to ditch our old business model and go public.
Ken说，公司上市能看出公众对他们公司是不是有信心。Lisa觉得，Jerry主张公司上市融资增加公司规模的逻辑有道理，I see the wisdom in Jerry's logic. 她觉得，公司是应该进入一个转型期，a transitory period, 放弃原来的商业模式，改为上市。Lisa用的ditch is spelled d-i-t-c-h, ditch是放弃，抛弃的意思。
K: Yeah...maybe. But I have my doubts. Remember all those companies back during the dot-com bust? They made their IPOs and a short time later, they were history.
J: That's true. But don't forget, some of those companies made a killing.
K: Okay, let's say we make a decision to go public; what kind of price are we thinking about charging for our stock?
Ken表示，自己还是持怀疑态度。I have my doubts. Ken 提到的 dot-com bust 是指1995年到2000年间的网络泡沫，结果大批上市公司都成了 history. 形容某人或某事是 history，成为历史，意思是过气了，再也不重要了。但是 Jerry 也说，Don't forget, some of those companies made a killing. 别忘了，其中很多公司都足足捞了一大笔。make a killing 意思是取得了巨大成功，尤其是指赚了很多钱。如果真要上市，每股定价多少呢？
J: I don't think there's a lot of appetite for adventure in the market right now. People are looking for either a good deal or something safe. I think we should offer a good deal and not make our initial price too expensive.
L: That's probably wise. But Jerry, have you really thought this through? You would essentially be giving up the company that your great-grandfather built.
Jerry觉得，现在市场上大家都在找上算的或是安全稳妥的股票，there isn't a lot of appetite for adventure. 没有多少人愿意冒险，所以Jerry建议股票定价不要过高。Lisa同意Jerry的看法，又问Jerry是不是考虑清楚了，think something through 是仔细考虑的意思。Jerry 会不会动摇呢？我们下次继续听。 |