????6.上市前，強化資產負債表。既然你能從IPO中籌集到相當的資本，在此之前尋求現金看起來似乎違背人們的本能。但你必須沒有任何明顯的、可能導致失敗的“單個缺陷”，這一點很關鍵。公眾投資者不習慣為運營虧損提供融資。如果你需要擬在IPO中籌集的這些現金，公眾投資者可能會回避投資，或要求相當低的估值?，F金充足的時候啟動IPO，能讓你在公眾投資者面前有底氣，一旦他們知道自己投資的現金并不是短期運營亟需的資金，大多數投資者會感到更放心。

????7.進行IPO推介時，不要創造任何指標。團購網站Groupon對此深有體會。Groupon曾經竭力向公眾介紹調整后合并部門運營利潤（ACSOI，即“調整”剔除網絡營銷費用)，但公眾投資者一看到新的衡量指標，就傾向于做最差假設。如果投資者搞懂了如何預測你的表現，他們只會購買你的股票。因此，要讓幫助公司內部預測的關鍵推動因素指導你披露的指標。指標要盡可能簡單——不要用那些說不清的指標讓投資者感到頭昏腦漲，就算這些指標再誘人也不行。

????8.財務預期一定要適度打折。要成為一家成功的上市公司，創造長期價值，需要持續不斷地達到、甚至超出預期。IPO之后要通過控制預期，確保公司能夠超越預期，同時提高多個季度的預期。很多公司在向分析師提供IPO前預期時，會將內部模型數據砍掉25%。如果你每個季度都超出預期太多，等于是在告訴投資者忽略你的預期，市場預期就會隨之變得不可理喻。管理團隊持續兌現預期，知道如何應對華爾街，這些至關重要。

????9.準備好為投資者關系投入大量時間。我調查過很多新上市的公司，經常聽到它們的CEO和CFO在上市后第一年在投資者關系上投入20-30%的時間。如果要投入這么多時間，公司內部需要有一個強有力的團隊，可以在你外出教育投資者的時候接替你的工作。

????10.IPO定價不應只看一步。如果你的股票價格在首日交易中較IPO價格上漲了25-50%，那么你顯然是留下了一些本屬于你的錢。但建立正確的投資者群體完全可以彌補募集資本略少一些造成的損失。努力吸引那些真正的長期投資者，這些投資者已經做過功課，了解你的業務。一旦上市，你就不能阻止短期投資者倒賣你的股票，但如果能擁有的長期投資者越多，情況自然越好。

????就是這些。準備IPO時，請把上面這幾條記在心里。（財富中文網）

????本文作者格林?所羅門是紀源資本的合伙人。他近期的投資包括Pandora、Successfactors、Isilon、Square、Zendesk、Quinstreet、Nimble Storage等公司。作者為胸懷大志的成長期創業家們撰寫了一系列文章，本文是其中一部分。欲閱讀全系列文章，可訪問www.goinglongblog.com。

????譯者：早稻米

????6. Boost your balance sheet prior to your IPO. Since you'll raise significant capital in your IPO, it may seem counter-intuitive to seek cash beforehand as well. It's critical that you not have any obvious "single points" of possible failure however. Public investors are unaccustomed to funding operating losses. If you need the cash you propose raising in your IPO, public investors are prone to either shy away or seek a very aggressive valuation. Commencing your IPO with full coffers will give you a position of strength as you approach public investors, and most will be more comfortable knowing the cash they're investing isn't critical to fund near-term operations.

????7. Don't invent any metrics as you market your IPO. As Groupon (GRPN) famously learnedwhen it tried to popularize Adjusted Consolidated Segment Operating Income (or ACSOI, which proposed "adjusting" out online marketing expenses), public investors tend to assume the worst when they see new metrics. Investors will only buy your stock if they understand how to forecast your performance, so let the key drivers that help you forecast internally guide what metrics you disclose. Keep it simple -- don't overwhelm investors with metrics that aren't telling, even if they're sexy.

????8. Make sure your financial projections are sufficiently haircut. To be successful as a public company and create value over the long term, you'll need to continually meet or exceed expectations. Set yourself up to beat numbers and raise guidance for several quarters after your IPO by keeping a lid on expectations. It's not uncommon to see companies haircut their internal models by 25% when providing pre-IPO guidance to analysts. Conversely, if you beat guidance numbers by too wide a margin every quarter, you'll teach investors to ignore your guidance, and expectations will run wild. Earning a reputation as a management team that delivers and understands how to manage Wall Street is critical.

????9. Be prepared to devote lots of time to investor relations. I've polled many newly-public companies, and I routinely hear that their CEOs and CFOs spend 20-30% of their time during the first year as a public company on I.R. To be prepared to devote this kind of time, you'll need to have a strong team internally who can step in for you while you're out educating investors.

????10. Price your deal to move. If your stock price closes its first day of trading up 25-50% from its IPO price, you clearly left some money on the table. But the price you'll pay in raising slightly less money than you would have otherwise will be more than compensated by building the right investor base. Seek to attract serious, long-term investors who have done their homework and understand your business. You can't keep short-term traders from trafficking in your stock once you're public, but the more long-term oriented your investor base, the better.

????There you have it. Keep this list in mind as you build toward your IPO ...

????Glenn Solomon (@glennsolomon) is a Partner with GGV Capital. Some of his recent investments include Pandora, Successfactors, Isilon, Square, Zendesk, Quinstreet and Nimble Storage. This post is part of a series for growth stage entrepreneurs who are thinking big; the full series can be found at www.goinglongblog.com.