Initial public offering, also known as an IPO is when a privately owned company goes public. ‘Going public‘ means the company now has shares on the stock exchange that can be bought by the public. This is a big deal and can put a company in a position to scale up and experience exponential growth. When people buy shares or invest in the company, the organization has more capital to put towards growth. IPOs can be like a shiny new object for investors as a company new to the stock exchange has potential of being a lucrative investment opportunity. Mega businesses that are now profitable like Tesla and Amazon were once private companies that went public by announcing IPOs. How Does an IPO Work The first step a company takes when becoming an initial public offering is fulfilling public reporting requirements by registering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Securities Act has made it a prerequisite for companies to do this before they can sell shares, with an exception of a few. Once you’ve submitted a registration statement, companies must wait for the