TLDR Founders · MISCELLANEOUS

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO IPO?

onlycfo.io10 min read

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

Back in 2021, every founder said they were two years away from an IPO. Just a couple actually made it. Only 5% of unicorns are both above $300M ARR and have a Rule of 40+ score. The other 95% are zombies. Of the 52 cloud companies that have IPOed since 2018, only 7 have beaten the QQQ ETF. If you actually are on the path, IPO planning should start 18-24 months out. Accounting is the number one reason for delayed IPOs, and the list of what finance teams need to get right is longer than most founders expect.