Software Maker Zuora Fresh Off IPO Gives Stock as Meeting Swag

(Bloomberg) -- Technology conference attendees are used to receiving swag bags, with phone chargers, T-shirts and notepads inside. How about the gift of company stock?

Zuora Inc., which makes a subscription management software for businesses, will give a share of its stock to each of the attendees at its conference Tuesday. Shares have doubled since the San Francisco-based company went public two months ago to $28.02 at Monday’s close. The gift is meant to be a thank you to the almost 2,000 guests, many of whom are customers and partners who have attended the gathering for years.

“We’re doing something a little wonky,” Tien Tzuo, Zuora’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. “We want to show appreciation for the revolution that they’ve caused.”

Zuora’s software powers businesses’ subscription services for customers. Some analysts view the firm, founded in December 2007, as a bellwether for the subscription economy, because Zuora’s products help companies such as Box Inc. and Marketo Inc. with pricing, payments and collection in markets around the world.

To comply with government regulations, the company bought specialized digital gift cards that allow an individual to buy its stock or choose to buy another. After its upbeat first earnings release last week, Tzuo joked about the timing of Zuora’s 19 percent rally on Friday. His party favors will be more expensive than he anticipated.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nico Grant in San Francisco at ngrant20@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Andrew Pollack

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.