Eloqua Inc., which pulled off a successful $92 million initial public offering in August, only had about $200,000 on hand the day before it went public, according to CEO Joe Payne.
The Vienna marketing software company, which had long operated at cash flow break-even, wasn’t in trouble — it had just settled a lawsuit for $3 million and funded its payroll, according to the chief executive. But Payne used the somewhat frightening anecdote about Eloqua’s bank balance to underscore his attitude about the IPO as little more than “a financing event.” After not raising outside capital for five years, they needed cash to expand…
