Skip to content

References: Company Case Studies and Exit Analysis

  1. Special-purpose acquisition company - Wikipedia - Explains the SPAC structure, sponsor economics, and regulatory framework that enabled pre-revenue quantum computing companies to access public markets, the key financial mechanism analyzed in this chapter.

  2. IonQ - Wikipedia - Documents IonQ's founding, trapped ion technology approach, SPAC merger with dMY Technology Group, and public market performance, providing background for this chapter's detailed financial case study.

  3. D-Wave Systems - Wikipedia - Covers D-Wave's business model, government contract revenue, and public listing, relevant to this chapter's analysis of D-Wave's revenue reality and the gap between marketing claims and financial performance.

  4. Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist (4th Edition, 2019) - Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson - Wiley - Authoritative guide to venture capital deal structures, exit strategies, and loss rates, providing the analytical framework for this chapter's discussion of VC losses in quantum computing.

  5. The SPAC Handbook: Understanding Blank Check Companies (2021) - Kristi Marvin - Wiley - Comprehensive guide to SPAC mechanics including sponsor promotes, redemption rights, and projection abuse, directly relevant to this chapter's analysis of how quantum companies exploited the SPAC structure.

  6. IonQ Annual Report (SEC Filing) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Official financial filings documenting IonQ's revenue, operating losses, and cash burn, providing the primary data source for this chapter's revenue projection versus reality analysis.

  7. Rigetti Computing SEC Filings - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Official filings documenting Rigetti's financial struggles including declining revenue, going-concern warnings, and cash runway challenges analyzed in this chapter.

  8. The SPAC Crash: Lessons from the Blank-Check Boom - Financial Times (2023) - Investigative analysis of how SPAC-era quantum computing valuations collapsed as forward projections proved unrealistic, corroborating this chapter's case studies of value destruction.

  9. Quantum Computing Companies Face Investor Reckoning - Bloomberg (2024) - Financial journalism documenting the stock price declines, missed revenue targets, and investor losses across publicly traded quantum computing companies examined in this chapter.

  10. Comparable Company Analysis for Emerging Technology Sectors - PitchBook (2024) - Provides valuation multiples and comparable company metrics for quantum computing firms, supporting this chapter's analysis of whether quantum company valuations are justified by fundamentals.