The narrative pitched by Wall Street underwriters has been irresistible. They said that after years of high interest rates kept the listing window shut, the floodgates were finally bursting open. Investors were told they could finally get direct access to the crown jewels of the venture capital world: advanced manufacturing and next-generation infrastructure.
But now that the initial hype has faded and the first few quarters of public market reality have set in, I decided to look past the promotional press releases and incessant financial TV coverage.
