You can kiss your IPO goodbye
Companies that normally would have gone public -- giving their early investors a convenient way to cash out -- are now working on building themselves into acquisition targets according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
Two-thirds of those who responded to the latest "Silicon Valley Venture Capital Conference Survey" conducted by Deloitte & Touche Corporate Finance LLC indicated they didn't anticipate the return of a vigorous market for initial public offerings of stock until 2005 or later. The other third were more optimistic, expecting the IPO market to return in 2004.