CONNECT Frameworks: Preparing for IPO: How to be ready when the window opens

Program Overview:
The IPO window has been almost completely shut since the end of 2007. When the window opens, only the best, most prepared companies will go out first, and these companies will have the greatest opportunities to benefit from being public. What should you do now to position your company to get out first? This half-day workshop will explain the early steps a company must take to make itself an IPO candidate: and the managerial, legal and accounting issues that will need to be addressed prior to a successful IPO. The discussion will be practical, and led in a case study format by members of the IPO team for Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI). Bridgepoint is one of only 5 IPOs in the US this year, and is the first San Diego IPO since December 2007.

What you will learn:
* When and how you should approach potential underwriters;
* Where you should focus your business to make your company attractive to the public markets;
* What an IPO costs and how soon you will need the money;
* How much time and how much money it takes to become Sarbanes-Oxley compliant;
* When you should expand your board and what attributes you should look for in directors;
* What additions/changes in senior management will be required, and when;
* What types of legal problems can hold up an IPO and how to avoid such problems.

Who should attend:
CEOs, CFOs, GCs, Venture Capitalists, Independent Directors and others who advise companies considering an IPO as an exit strategy.