“A Nasdaq IPO is what most people are aiming for when they lose all sense of responsibility and launch a high-tech startup. If you were ready for IPO today (after the dot com bubble has burst and most investors have come to their senses), you’ll have sales revenues of…”

This chapter lays out a complete route from Zero-to-IPO with details of the milestones and stepping stones for each of the four stages of growth – seed, early, expansion and mezzanine.

It helps you identify and assemble the team that you’re going to need for this long and arduous journey – structuring the board of directors, advisory panel, executives and management team. It covers everything from writing a business plan and launching the company, to raising several rounds of funding, hiring a career CEO, forming strategic partnerships, going international, releasing best-of-breed products, cranking up the sales engine, appointing an investment bank and taking the company through the process of IPO.

When you encounter obstacles blocking the route, you really want to be able to quickly switch to a pre-prepared contingency plan. Valuable days, weeks or months can be lost if you haven’t agreed your contingency plans and identified alternative routes in advance. This chapter identifies some of the obstacles you’re most likely to encounter on the Zero-to-IPO journey and helps you prepare contingency plans.