Having the End in Sight and Working Backward

By George Khalife

Vice President, Midwest U.S., TMX Group

Going public requires endurance. When I was on the M&A side, I’d often joke that the two exit paths are analogous to a founder running on a treadmill who has three options to select from; i) continue running at the same or higher pace, gradually cool down and come to a full stop, or crank up the speed at a very high incline and see how far you can go.

Going public and staying public is definitely not easy. In 2019, I had drinks with the CEO of a publicly-traded company on TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) and I asked him what every executive should think about before going public. His response? “Every CEO should believe without an ounce of doubt that they can get their business past $100M+ in valuation (with the sights of hitting the billion mark). If you have that kind of vision, then going public is worth the effort.”

So what does a founder have to think about or do in order to get the company in a position where a milestone like going public is feasible? Let’s dig in. *Please keep in mind that some of the points mentioned pertain more to the Canadian public markets which often sees earlier-stage companies going public relative to U.S. markets*:…

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