But there is little reason to doubt Reuters' reporting. I go about it another way, asking if the company is in quiet period. That yielded the following from Sheri Renner, director of corporate communications. "We cannot comment as to whether we are in a quiet period or not. As a general rule, we are behaving as if we are." I operate on the assumption that if a company is not in a quiet period, it quickly says so and does so informally while when it is, all questions are funneled to an official who says it cannot comment and employees have been warned to be quiet on the topic. September's announcement of $96 million in new capital—with $45 million going to buy out early-stage investors—also appeared to me to be a signal. The company has raised $300 million and I would think those folks are itching for a big return. The real question is what happens to Avalara once public. It has enabling technologies and my belief is some big company will want to snatch it up in a couple of years to gain a tremendous advantage competitors. Someone could use Avalara as the platform from which all standards for indirect tax technology emanate.