Internet IPOs: First, RetailMeNot. Next, Twitter?

After Facebook’s initial public offering 14 months ago—featuring a computer malfunction, misplaced trades, and lawsuits galore—a nuclear winter descended on consumer Internet equity listings. Investors interested in new technology deals ran from ill-defined metrics like consumer engagement and monthly active users. Instead, they sought solid revenue models powered by subscription and licensing fees at business software outfits such as data-visualization company Tableau Software and human resources software maker Workday.

Since Facebook’s flop, only two U.S. consumer Web companies have gone public: real estate site Trulia and travel search engine Kayak. Meanwhile, microblogging site Twitter remains on the sidelines with an estimated $9.8 billion valuation, higher than 95 percent of companies in the Nasdaq Composite Index. Other startups, such as cloud-storage company Dropbox, mobile-payment platform Square, and room-sharing service Airbnb, sport valuations well above $1 billion. It may be up to an online coupon site from Austin, Tex., to get those companies off the bench.