Navigating the IPO Journey: Mastering Leadership with Dale Saxman

If you interviewed a cross-section of young, ambitious entrepreneurs about the vision they hold for their Startup, many would eagerly affirm that, yes, they want to build a company that makes a BIG impact and can endure the test of time. Many would say that their company would be their greatest legacy. However, if you asked the same group of entrepreneurs if they'd want to take their company public, I imagine you get many of them sheepishly trying to change the subject.

I think this is especially true for female founders.

Where might the distaste for IPO originate from? The fact of the matter is that almost every world-changing, difference-making company that exists today are publicly traded. Think Amazon, Apple, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, and Microsoft.

All of these companies were both taken public relatively early on and they are/were long-run and controlled by their founder(s).

The IPO Process seems to be one that is shrouded in darkness and mystery. There is fear for what a company might become after an IPO or perhaps the whole ordeal seems "out of reach," and so Founders don't even reach for that at BIG vision-- which seems totally counterintuitive for an entrepreneur's mind.

Regardless, I believe that there are some amazing leaders with world-changing ideas who may never be able to make the impact they would like due to their lack of desire to take their company public, which is why I am excited to share my interview with Dale Saxman.

Dale is an incredible Sales Leader whose resume includes Tesla, Twitter, and Gusto. But what is more remarkable is that Dale has led, not one, not two, but THREE teams through the IPO process. Aside from this being an exciting personal accomplishment, she is a well of knowledge regarding what it takes to IPO as an organization and the team needed to make it happen.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• What Tesla had to do to IPO against all odds

• The truth about Twitter culture in the early days

• The #1 thing you need to focus on to create a thriving sales team
  
  

Building a sustainable, viable business takes both heart and courage. If you gain anything from my conversation with Dale, it is that there are real humans behind the going public process. Real humans that make mistakes. Real humans that are striving the make the biggest impact they can-- it doesn't mean that everything needs to be perfect. It means that you must move forward holding that bigger vision inside you and strive to build your company accordingly.