确保IPO成功的十大关键

    如今，典型的、由风投支持的科技公司从融资到IPO的时间跨度是整整8-10年。没有一夜成功的故事。把一家公司带到IPO是一个巨大的成就，需要付出大量的工作和努力。

    要做好IPO准备，你需要预见性和可见性、巨大的增长潜力以及没有丝毫失败的迹象。即便你的公司拥有所有这些特质，IPO也不是铁板钉钉的事。为了确保IPO获得成功，请考虑下述10点计划。

    1.聘请一位既懂业务、也了解华尔街运作方式的首席财务官。如果你现在还没有这样的财务官，马上招一位，至少要在你计划IPO之前一年就招聘好。这位CFO将在IPO推介中扮演关键角色，因此应当要有几个季度的时间了解业务，同时具备必要的预见性。这位CFO还需要时间组建自己的团队和体系，以满足公开上市公司的需要。

    2.提前了解相关投资银行。选择正确的银行财团对于IPO成败至关重要。通常，公司会举行一场类似于选美比赛的“选秀”，每家受邀银行都将向董事会展示自己的资质以及IPO定位的看法。如果在启动IPO流程前一年就开始了解相关银行，你可以考虑“选秀”或与少数业内公司会面。你可以根据自己的了解选择银行。但要确保有数家银行竞争你公司的IPO业务；做出最终选择前，你有最大的议价余地，确保你获得最好人员以及灵活的分账方式。

    3.根据适当的标准选择银行财团。根据银行组建财团的能力、对你业务的理解和华尔街将如何对你的公司定价，选择牵头簿记行。根据研究分析师的素质和研究领域选择联席经办人。尽管过去几年卖方研究的声誉和影响力大为降低，但是让有学识、受关注的分析师密切跟踪你的公司在上市后仍然会非常有帮助。

    4.利用即将进行的IPO作为吸引一流人才进入公司和董事会的工具。虽然公司上市后，提供以公司股价定价的期权将更难吸引一流创业人才，但准备IPO的消息本身就是非常有吸引力的招聘利器。增加IPO前的费用还可以压低公司上市后最初几个季度的利润预期。类似地，在公司等待上市前，聘用董事也会变得更容易。

    5.提交S-1注册文件前6-12个月，与公众投资者和卖方研究分析师会面。利用这些会面的机会改进你的故事，锻炼如何回应公众投资者将会问的种种问题。但要记住，从这些会面中你就得开始建立口碑。建立良好的会面记录，同时超越你在这些会面中设立的目标，这一点很关键。

    These days, for the typical ventured-backed tech company, the duration from founding to IPO is a full 8 to 10 years. There are no overnight success stories. It's a serious accomplishment representing a ton of work to get a company to the precipice of an IPO.

    To be ready you need predictability and visibility, huge growth potential and no single points of failure. Even if your company has all of these attributes, your IPO is not a sure thing. To make sure your IPO is a success, consider this 10 point plan.

    1. Have a CFO who understands both the business and how Wall Street works. If you don't yet have this person on board and need to make a hire, be sure to do so at least a year before your planned IPO. Your CFO will play a central role in marketing your IPO and should have several quarters to learn the business and ensure she has necessary visibility. Your CFO also will need time to build out her team and systems to support public company demands.

    2. Get to know the relevant investment banks beforehand. Choosing the right banking syndicate is critical to the success of your IPO. Typically companies hold a "bake-off," a beauty pageant of sorts, where each invited bank presents their qualifications and views on IPO positioning to the board. If you spend time in the year prior to kicking off your IPO process getting to know the relevant banks, you can consider nixing the bake-off or holding meetings with a more limited set of players. Instead, you can select banks based on what you've learned. Make sure, however, that the banks compete for your business; your leverage to ensure you get their best people and flexibility on how they'll split the economics on your deal is at its peak before you make your selections.

    3. Select your banking syndicate based on appropriate criteria. Choose your lead book-runner(s) based on their syndication capabilities, understanding of your business and how Wall Street will value your company. Choose your co-managers based on the quality and interest of their research analysts. Although the reputation and influence of sell-side research has eroded over the past several years, it's still very helpful to have knowledgeable and highly regarded analysts following your company closely once you're public.

    4. Use your pending IPO as a tool for attracting top talent to your company and board. Although it will get tougher to hire top startup talent once you're public with options priced in accordance with your stock price, news of a pending IPO serves as a powerful recruitment tool. Padding your expense base pre-IPO can also help keep profit expectations low in your first few quarters as a public company. Similarly, recruiting board members will be easier when you're private, before your IPO.

    5. Meet with public investors and sell-side research analysts in the 6-12 months prior to filing your S-1 registration document. Use these meetings to hone your story and practice responding to the types of questions public investors will ask. Remember, however, you'll begin to build a reputation during these encounters. It's critical to establish a track record of meeting or exceeding the objectives you lay out during these meetings.