Oct 25, 2022 · 37m · neon-show
The Process & Preparation of IPO Ft. Tracxn Technologies Founders Neha Singh & Abhishek Goyal
Neha Singh · 14m spoken Abhishek Goyal · 14m spoken Siddhartha Ahluwalia · 4m spoken Prashant Ganti · 60s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Tracxn co-founders Neha Singh and Abhishek Goyal join host Siddharth Ahluwalia to break down their comprehensive journey, regulatory preparation, and financial strategy behind taking their market intelligence platform public on Indian stock exchanges. They share actionable insights on governance, profitability, institutional investor alignment, and building enduring tech companies that generate long-term retail shareholder wealth.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
Siddhartha as informed peer 3.5 Guest teaching 4.5 Guest disagreement 1.0 Siddhartha pushing back 1.1
speaking balance: gold is Siddhartha, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 35:19 Pushing back on the permanent global funding freeze thesis
Abhishek gently dismisses the host's assertion that growth capital from the US has halted indefinitely, asserting it is merely a temporary 12-month cyclical slowdown before mega-rounds resume.
Hardest push from Siddhartha ▶ 6:45 Challenging the founder on VC alignment and ARR benchmarksThe host directly confronts Abhishek on whether listing at 10M ARR defies institutional VC expectations of holding out for billion-dollar exits.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 27:16 Regulatory compliance realities of primary IPO proceedsNeha educates the host and audience on how SEBI strictly monitors primary capital deployment within 1-2 years, contrasting it with private market cash stockpiling.
Siddhartha holds their own ▶ 6:45 Framing retail wealth creation versus venture ARR benchmarksThe host articulates precise ARR scale expectations and valuation mechanics comparing private fund lifecycles to public retail wealth creation.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Siddhartha as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Siddhartha pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Planning and Early Governance Foundations | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | The host asks open-ended setup questions about founders' early preparations and internal roadmaps for the IPO. Neha and Abhishek explain the operational timeline, statutory DRHP filing requirements, and early governance decisions like hiring a Big Four auditor from year one. | |
| Internal Role Delegation and Regulatory Compliance Logistics | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2 | The host probes whether listing at a 10M ARR milestone contradicts VC expectations for unicorn scale. Abhishek educates on Indian float sizes ($200-500M market sweet spots) and the structural divergence between mature public and nascent VC markets. | |
| Investor Alignment and Establishing Early Profitability | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | The host asks how investors were persuaded to accept an early listing timeline. Neha details the Indian public market's specific appetite for bottom-line PAT and positive operating cash flow over top-line growth metrics alone. | |
| Financial Operating Metrics and Guidance from Experienced Mentors | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Neha outlines financial metrics like non-linear EBITDA expansion from SaaS platforms. The host brings up mentorship references like Nazara's founder, and Neha shares insights gained from Nandan Nilekani and US angel board members. | |
| Navigating Macro Volatility and Securing the Anchor Book | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | The host questions whether the 2022 global macro tech meltdown caused hesitation. Abhishek outlines the mechanics of anchor book allocations and institutional price discovery with domestic mutual funds. | |
| Managing High-Stakes Anxiety and Fiduciary Accountability | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | The host inquires about emotional stress and sleepless nights during the process. Abhishek and Neha recount extreme anxiety over geopolitical macro events right as their anchor book closed and managing retail fiduciary duty. | |
| Resolving Technical Hurdles and Late-Night Filing Sprints | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | Abhishek recounts late-breaking technical hurdles, such as auditor buyback clause treatments negatively impacting company net worth right before financial year-end deadlines. Neha describes all-night drafting sprints before DRHP submissions. | |
| Sponsor Feature: Zoho Payroll and Zoho Books | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Following the sponsor integration, the host asks why the IPO was structured purely as an Offer for Sale (OFS). Neha and Abhishek detail regulatory requirements that mandate primary proceeds to be spent within 1-2 years on identified targets, demonstrating why cash-flow-positive SaaS firms avoid blind capital pools. |
Statements from this episode (16)
Tracxn Reaches 800+ Customers and ₹67+ Crore Revenue at Listing
“Traxen is one of the world's top five market intelligence This platform on private companies traction is used by more than 800 customers in more than 50 countries. And as today traction has more than 67 crores in annual revenue currently valued in the public m…”
Singh: 70% of Tracxn's revenue comes from international customers
“So, 70% of our revenue is still international.”
Goyal: Tracxn hired CFO in first 10 employees and used Big Four for seven years
“So in our case, our CFO was among the first 10 employees to join. We had Big Four from last seven years.”
Singh: Tracxn's IPO forced some early investors to open Demat accounts
“Some of the investors also had to open DMAT accounts because, you know, they had, we were the first company in the portfolio to be hitting the listed space.”
Goyal: Indian market struggles to absorb IPO floats above $1B
“And as you grow larger, I think if your float is more than let's a billion dollar, it gets very hard for Indian market to absorb it in today's context.”
Goyal: Sweet spot for Indian IPOs is $200M to $500M valuation
“I think a sweet spot of entry in the market is between two to five hundred million dollar valuation. That is a sweet spot. Where an Indian market can attract a company.”
Neha Singh: Indian public markets prioritize profitability over revenue milestones
“Another thing in addition to the revenue, another thing which I realized that the Indian public markets also really likes is the profitability. So they want you to, you know, hit the market when you have a clear path to profitability or you've already become p…”
Goyal: IPO anchor books require meeting over 50 investors for 5-7 commitments
“I think this is the most rigorous part of the IPO. You end up meeting more than 50 investors and eventually hope that between five to seven good investors, they come and work with you.”
Goyal: Tracxn Achieved IPO Internal Readiness in 2-3 Months Instead of 12-18
“A lot of people advise us that, look, it's a three year process... And a lot of people said that first 12 to 18 months will just be internal readiness. So in our case, when we started working, we realized that within two to three months, that internal readines…”
Goyal: Buyback clauses make pre-IPO startup net worth appear deeply negative
“All investors get a clause of buyback. And technically, from an auditor's perspective, if you have a buyback clause, the company's net worth is, like, a lot of negative crores. Because whatever is the net worth company is supposed to buy back, right? So whatev…”
Goyal: Tracxn risked redoing its entire six-to-nine-week approval process if delayed two weeks
“Our approvals were getting expired, were expiring on November. So if for whatever market condition, even if you lose another two weeks now, you have to just redo the entire thing, which is a very long draining six to nine weeks process.”
Singh: Indian IPO rules mandate deploying primary capital within two years
“If you raise primary in the IPO, then you have to use it in the next one to two years, and that is basically monitored also. So, you know, you have to give the use of proceeds initially, you have to use it for those, and you cannot, unlike financing the privat…”
Goyal: Raising at peak private valuations delays an IPO by five years
“Public market anyways give lower valuation than private market. And if the peak of private market, if you raise at the premium valuation, you can't do IPO for five years then.”
Singh: Tech companies make up only 1.7% of Indian listed market cap
“If you look at the tech companies market cap to the total market cap of Indian listed entities, it's only about, you know, 1.7%. That is 34% in US, for instance.”