Find Companies Going Public That Need Advisory Services

Overview

Going public is a procurement event disguised as a financing event. An S-1 filing triggers a wave of specialist work on a fixed timeline — audit and re-audit, SOX readiness, internal controls, equity administration, investor relations, financial reporting. Companies assemble that bench in the months around filing, and most have never bought these services before.

This Hound watches for S-1 and IPO filings, filters for the companies whose work you can win, finds the CFO or controller, and opens the conversation while the bench is still being built.

How to set it up

Four things to brief your Hound. This is the exact configuration behind this play.

A · Describe the opportunity

This is the brief every source is filtered against. You describe what you're looking for in plain language, add keywords to sharpen it, then set the structured criteria.

Tell Forest what you're looking for:

"I'm looking for companies preparing to go public — S-1 and F-1 filings, confidential-submission announcements, de-SPAC transactions, and direct listings. Each one needs audit, SOX readiness, internal controls, IR, and equity administration on a hard timeline. I want them at or before filing, while they're assembling vendors. Match to my industries and company size. Skip withdrawn filings and companies that have already named their providers."

Keywords to watch for: files S-1 · IPO · confidentially submitted · initial public offering · direct listing · de-SPAC · going public · SOX readiness · [your industries]

Fields to extract: company · filing_type · filing_date · proposed_raise · exchange · industry · auditor · expected_listing_date

Match criteria:

• ✓ Filing indicates a live path to listing (not withdrawn or dormant)

• ✓ Company size fits your engagement range

• ✓ Industry you serve

• ✗ Exclude withdrawn filings

• ✗ Exclude companies with providers already publicly named

B · Choose the sources to monitor

IPO filings are public via SEC EDGAR — free, structured, and same-day.

SEC filings (free — connected by default) 🟢

• SEC EDGAR — sec.gov/edgar — S-1 (domestic IPO), F-1 (foreign issuer), S-4 (de-SPAC), plus amendments. Same-day and authoritative.

• EDGAR full-text search — efts.sec.gov — Search filing text for the specifics your brief targets (auditor named, risk factors, control weaknesses).

Note: Under the JOBS Act many companies file confidentially first and only surface publicly ~15 days before the roadshow. Pair EDGAR with News & Press to catch the earlier signals — by public filing, much of the vendor bench is already set.

News & Press 🟡 default source, always on — reads the open web against your brief for "confidentially submitted," banker-hire news, and IPO-intent coverage. For this play it's arguably more valuable than EDGAR, because it's earlier.

C · Define the ICP to reach

Who to reach at the filing company, in priority order, with fallbacks.

1. CFO — Primary — owns the going-public workstream — PRIMARY

2. Controller / Chief Accounting Officer — Owns audit, controls, and reporting

3. General Counsel — Fallback, owns disclosure and IR coordination — FALLBACK

D · Email & LinkedIn sequence

The play the Hound runs for each match. Fields drop in as variables. Senior, consultative tone.

Email · Day 0 Congratulations on {{company}}'s {{filing_type}}. The window between filing and listing is where {{your_offering}} tends to become the constraint — usually right when the team is stretched thinnest. We support {{industry}} issuers through exactly this stretch. Would a brief call be useful while the plan is still forming?

↓ Wait 3 days · no reply

LinkedIn · connection request · Day 3 Hi {{first_name}} — congratulations on {{company}}'s filing. Would value connecting.

↓ Wait 4 days · no reply

Email · Day 7 · follow-up Following up on {{company}}'s offering — happy to share a readiness checklist of what comparable {{industry}} issuers wish they'd started earlier, no obligation. Useful even if your bench is set.

⏸ Any reply on either channel pauses the whole sequence — the conversation is yours.