Idea of the IPO process

Now that you have some idea of how the whole IPO process works, you are way ahead of a very high percentage of young entrepreneurs who are getting ready to start businesses. You can actually set up your business from the beginning in a way that will give you the absolute best chance to make it all the way to Wall Street.

And when it comes time to actually put together your IPO team and write your prospectus, you won’t have to worry about major problems cropping up during due diligence — you’ll be well prepared. All the work you put into this course back when you were still in school will pay off!

In the next lesson, we will be taking a closer look at what happens when you put on a “road show” presentation for potential investors. Before we move on to that lesson, there is one important activity you need to complete:

Activity 19: A Letter to Potential Stockholders

When Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page took their company public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 2004, they did something rather unique. Instead of simply sending out their prospectus to potential investors, they also sent out a very long letter which they referred to as an “owner’s manual” for Google’s shareholders.

Click this link to read the entire letter:

http://investor.google.com/founders_letter.html.

As you read Google’s letter to shareholders, think about how you might have reacted if you had been a potential investor. Sergey Brin and Larry Page didn’t run their business in the most “conventional” way. Would you have risked your money to purchase their stock as a result of reading this 8-page letter?

Activity 19: Instructions for Writing a Letter to Potential Shareholders

Download and print this PDF and use to write a letter to your potential shareholders.

If you are taking this course for a grade or for credit, you will turn in this assignment to your advisor or teacher. Be sure to keep a copy for yourself, so you can refer to it in Lesson 11.

Click the race car to continue

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