Founded in 2007, Gowalla was one of the first location-based social networks. Its offering made it easy to use a mobile device to “check in” to a place and see if there were any nearby friends. Gowalla also had a game element — you could earn badges and points for the number of times you visited a location.

It was a cutting-edge service, and it also leveraged the boom in smartphones. Yet Gowalla’s app didn’t get much traction, even though it had an appealing interface. Instead, it was rival Foursquare that got most of the attention.

So it should be no surprise that Gowalla decided to sell out. According to CNNMoney, Facebook has picked up the company (the price tag was not disclosed). Read 

Zynga’s Facebook games — particularly Mafia Wars, CityVille and the still ubiquitous FarmVille — are the model for success in the social video game market. Now that the company is about to go public, investors are familiarizing themselves with the company. Come Dec. 16, Zynga will begin trading at somewhere between $8.50 and $10 as the company aims to raise $850 million and $1.15 billion, placing its value somewhere between $7.6 and $8.9 billion.

Will those $10 shares balloon up to become a diamond in the rough of your portfolio? Maybe. After two years online, FarmVille alone pulls in 30 million players per month. The company’s S-1 filing for its IPO showed that revenue is growing. Zynga pulled in $306.8 million in the third quarter, up 80% over the same period in 2010.

It’s not all sunny, though. Net income was down 50% year-over-year, falling to $12.5 million. User growth also was stagnant, with monthly active users falling from 228 million in the previous quarter to 227 million. Zynga’s daily active user numbers were most distressing, though. In the first quarter of 2011, 62 million people played Zynga games each day. In the third quarter, just 54 million were playing every day. Pair these numbers with word of Zynga’s troubling corporate culture, and there’s good reason to be cautious about the IPO. Read 

Not since Digital Domain Media Group (NASDAQ:DDMG),  a movie digital effects company, went public on Nov. 18 has any IPO hit the market. But this week, the market will rev up again. So what’s on tap? Here’s a look at the coming offerings:

Peak Resorts (NASDAQ:PEAK): The company operates 12 ski areas in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast. A key differentiator is Peak’s snowmaking capabilities. It has allowed for higher revenues and margins.

Even with the slowing economy, the ski industry has remained fairly strong. Consider that the 2010-2011 season was the strongest on record. Read 

More than 20 years ago, Annie Withey wanted to create a new kind of food company — one that made products with real ingredients, not chemicals. The result was Annie’s Homegrown, and the company has been growing quite nicely.

This week the company filed for an IPO. Lead underwriters include Credit Suisse and JPMorgan. The plan is to issue shares on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol of BNNY (the company’s mascot is Bernie the “Rabbit of Approval”).

Annie’s has the No. 1 market positions for natural and organic categories for macaroni and cheese, snack crackers, fruit snacks and graham crackers. It helps that the company has a loyal customer base, but at the same time, Annie’s has been aggressive in getting retail distribution. Its 125 products are available across 25,000 locations across the U.S. and Canada. Retail partners include Kroger (NYSE:KR), Safeway (NYSE:SWY), Target (NYSE:TGT) and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). Read 

At this week’s Cloudbeat Conference in Silicon Valley, I met up with a CEO of a tech company that has filed to go public (I can’t name him because of the “quiet period”). Interestingly, he said that it would be “crazy” to go public right now. He pointed out that the volatility premium for tech deals is a steep 50% — and then there is the extra 15% discount to create a first-day stock pop.

His conclusion: If a company is going public now, it’s either desperate to get money or the insiders want to cash out.

It’s definitely a provocative view, but it has some merit. To remain competitive in today’s global markets, it’s critically important to have a nice trove of capital. At the same time, who doesn’t want to cash out and get some liquidity? Read 

The roots of GSE Environmental go back to 1981, when Clifford Gundle saw an opportunity to create waste-management lining systems using high-density polyethylene. The business grew quickly and the company eventually went public in 1986. After a string of acquisitions, the company went private in 2004.

But now GSE Environmental wants to go public again. It plans to issue 9 million shares at a range of $13 to $15. Underwriters include Oppenheimer and FBR Capital, and the proposed stock symbol is GSE..

GSE is now a global operator of engineered geosynthetic containment solutions, which help industrial clients deal with environmental regulations. Its suite of products spans industries like mining, waste management, coal and shale oil. Often, they help prevent the leakage of toxic substances into the soil and ground water. Read