Ooma CEO on IPO, Competition With AT&T and Verizon

Shares of newly minted public stock Ooma (OOMA) fell some 13 percent following its debut on the NYSE Friday. Priced at $13 a share, below its initial range of $16-$18, the Internet phone provider issued 5 million shares, which netted $65 million. Some of these proceeds will be directed back to research and development, CEO Eric Stang told TheStreet TV. ‘Some competitors in the past perhaps haven’t done so well, so I think investors are a little wary and want us to prove to them that we can actually execute on the things we’ve accomplished so far and the things we will do going forward,’ Stang said on why shares priced lower. The Internet telecom company competes with the likes of AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ), but isn’t intimidated. ‘It all starts with the platform we’ve built and what it’s capable of,’ Stang added. ‘About 30 percent of our new customers come from word of mouth.’ While the company saw impressive revenue growth over the past two years to the tune of 84 percent, losses deepened. Ooma reported a net loss of $6.4 million in fiscal 2015, compared to $3.7 million in 2013. TheStreet's Scott Gamm reports from New York.