Former Bob Little Press & PR client, the talent management software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider, Cornerstone OnDemand, has gone public – floating on the Nasdaq. Moreover, it saw its share price rise from $13 on opening to $19.03 at the close – a rise of 47 per cent. Earlier in the day, they had risen 59 per cent.

According to Reuters (see http://tinyurl.com/6jju89h): ‘Cornerstone’s soaring debut, even after its shares priced above the proposed range, shows the IPO market can remain hot for the right US companies that are less exposed to the global markets, said Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based IPO investment firm IPOX Schuster LLC.

‘Nick Einhorn, a research analyst at Renaissance Capital, also said Cornerstone is new enough and small enough so far that it should see little impact from global economic volatility and has enough potential to grow regardless.

‘The Santa Monica, California-based company has yet to become profitable, although its gross revenue grew 59 per cent to $46.6m in 2010 and 49 per cent in 2009. In 2010, Cornerstone recorded a loss of $48.4m, an almost six-fold jump from the year before, largely caused by a change in fair value of preferred stock warrant liabilities.

‘Cornerstone raised $136.5m, selling 10.5m shares for $13 each, above the originally proposed range of $9 to $11 each.’

Comment: It’s always nice to see a client or even a former client ‘go public’ – especially when it goes public so successfully. Of course, floating is one thing. Staying afloat, especially without making any profits yet, is a challenge that – no doubt – Cornerstone OnDemand is happy to welcome.