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A look at the fastest-growing small public company in America along with an overview of other similar companies.

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Thirty-one of this year's Inc. 100 -- the fastest-growing small public companies in America -- became public just last year. Next year, expect more

Nobody's suggesting that 1995 was a bad time to take your company public.

It's just that, well, let's put it this way: 1995 was no 1993. That year, 665 initial public offerings hauled in $34 billion. By comparison, 1995 saw 564 debutantes (130 fewer than the 1986 record), collecting a total of $29 billion at their coming-out balls. True, this group knew how to make the party last. According to IPO Aftermarket, 381 new issues ended the year as winners; the average gain was nearly 40%. "People get caught up in the buying craziness," says Neil Aronson, a lawyer who helps companies prepare for the public plunge. "So the initial pricing may be reasonable, but what the market does to it afterward isn't. Everyone wants to follow the crowd."

And that crowd, as it turns out, has been the real story.

While magazines like Time and Business Week struggled to coin terms to describe the handful of sudden billionaires the frenzy created -- kindergarten dropouts, high-tech burnouts, and social washouts, each and every one of them -- they hardly stopped to ponder the folks that were fueling the boom, pouring a total of $129 billion from their IRAs and 401(k)s and other investment vehicles into equity mutual funds. As unsophisticated as those investors may have been, they knew what they wanted: technology, speed, growth. It was a record year, after all, for emerging high-tech stocks, a group that raised an astounding $8.4 billion. The reason? Remember the wisdom of sage investor Peter Lynch: invest in things you understand.

Satellite TV, productivity software, cellular phones, the Internet. No matter where you lived or worked -- and for many, it was becoming harder and harder to tell which was which -- it was easy to see the benefits of hotshot technologies. Whether through faster modems or microwave clothes dryers, many of the companies among the new issues promised to make life pleasingly efficient. As much as any product those companies offered, what lured investors to their initial public offerings was the simple fact of their appetizing growth in an era during which big businesses seemed restricted to peddling one flavor, strategy-wise: downsizing.

Of course, it's impossible to stamp an accurate price tag on the promise the new issues embody. "People understand that there's real value in coming up with innovation in software that helps business do business better, and in the Internet and in any tools that offer productivity improvement," says Kenneth A. Mabbs, director of investment banking at First Albany Corp. "Technology has gotten some very sexy valuations. But the whole thing has gotten elevated. Everybody's overvalued." Indeed, all it takes is a drop in earnings -- say, from earnings per share of 21¢ to 15¢ -- for this fickle crowd to drain a stock of one-third of its value. It happened to software maker MapInfo last summer. And that company didn't lose money. "People are buying promises of growth," notes Mabbs. "If you do not deliver, you do not get punished. You get beheaded."

So, still feeling swept up in the public-market mania? Still anxious to join that elite club of public-company CEOs -- and maybe even the ultra-elite Inc. 100 (see [Article link] for this year's ranking), the country's fastest-growing small public companies?

Of course you are. It's a rite of passage, the most concrete manifestation of what building a business is all about: creating wealth. OK, so maybe you won't have a day like Netscape Communications' Marc Andreessen, who saw his net worth rise to $58 million last August 9. You'll still gain a satisfying sense of accomplishment, not to mention a bulky bank account. But before you make up your mind -- for good -- it's worth taking the time to look beyond the overheated hype. What can you learn about the process from this bull market? "No Tech, No Takers" ([Article link]) shows how this year's market shatters some myths about going public. For a peek at the one part of the going-public process that most companies keep to themselves, read "The 100-Day Makeover" ([Article link]). And "Now Let's Talk About You" ([Article link]) should remind you of an aspect of going public that's been all but forgotten in the tales of Fast Big Bucks: as a company builder, you may be forced to make some sacrifices you hadn't counted on.

Not that any of that should discourage you from adding to what could be the biggest year ever for IPOs. (About 200 companies went public in the first quarter of 1996 alone.) "There's never been anything like this," says Mabbs, who adds soberly, "but there is going to be some crashing and burning. No matter how much excitement there is right now, no one should forget that."

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