2. Start-Up Phase

So you’ve made the decision to go public. Now, how do you get started? Fortunately, you paid close attention back when you were in school going through that helpful online course. What was it called? Oh, yes! Ready, Set, Go Public!

Since that time, you’ve learned a lot about attracting investors to your company and raising capital to build a business. You’ve been preparing your company to go public ever since you wrote the first draft of your business plan. You’ve done your research, and you know these are the ten steps it will take to launch your IPO:

1. Putting together your IPO team
2. Initial “all hands” meeting
3. Writing the registration statement and prospectus
4. Due diligence to be sure everything is correct
5. Preliminary filing of the registration statement and prospectus
6. Road show (to tell potential investors about the company)
7. Revision of the registration statement and prospectus (if required by the SEC)
8. Approval from the SEC
9. Final pricing of the shares
10. Offering (stock begins trading)

All of this work can take up to a year, but normally it requires about two to four months. The challenge for you as the CEO will be to keep operating the company while you prepare for the IPO. You’re going to need some help!