Why do companies choose to go public?
So, companies choose to go public for many reasons. A major one is that they need to raise capital in order to expand their businesses. They also want to raise the profile of their brand and they want to also allow early investors to exit their shares to monetize the shares that they invested in the company early on. Now, in terms of creatively raising their profile, for example, Chewy's in their IPO, had a dog on their podium.
Can any company list on the stock exchange?
Unfortunately not. Companies have to meet an exchange's listing standards. Now, in this IPO process, there's something called a roadshow. That's when companies hit the road to seek out new investors who will buy into their company before their public debut.