In order to entice customers, it often waived the delivery fee that was crucial to covering costs. In essence, Webvan tried selling groceries at a loss in order to achieve scale. But that was standard practice at this point, and in no way prevented Webvan from enjoying a typically buoyant IPO. When it went public in the fall of 1999, the company had recorded only $4 million in revenue in its entire existence. Nonetheless, the stock went out at $15 and rose to $34 before ending the day at $25. Webvan had an $8 billion valuation.
