I agree with the other posters that this probably isn't an appropriate question for the news.yc crowd. IPOs are rare. So you would be much better off seeking

I agree with the other posters that this probably isn't an appropriate question for the news.yc crowd. IPOs are rare. So you would be much better off seeking out experts. That being said, check out http://www.softwareceo.com/attachments/softwareceo/com021908.php http://www.softwareceo.com/attachments/softwareceo/com021908... Unless you can do something like Google does in not giving out guidance, which seems highly doubtful, the bottom line benchmark seems to be a) a revenue threshold and then b) being able to give decent guidance about future numbers on a quarterly basis. I've always thought the revenue threshold was around 100M, but that link argues it can be smaller for software companies in the right situation.