I regularly observe the same mistake. Ukrainian entrepreneurs often perceive IPO as a magic pill that will automatically scale the business and solve all internal problems.

Artem Lyashanov, a fintech entrepreneur and investor with ten years of experience in the markets of the EU, the USA, Canada and South America.

Less than half of the companies that went public closed their debut day with positive dynamics. The most interesting thing is that 60% of these newcomers were profitable at the time of listing. This completely destroys the myth that net profit is a guarantee of successful placement. Today, the numbers in the reports are just an entrance ticket, not a guarantee of triumph.

How PCI DSS Experience Shapes a Company's IPO Readiness

Many years of experience with processing systems and PCI DSS standards have allowed us to formulate four fundamental criteria by which investors assess a company's readiness for public listing in 2026:

● Corporate transparency;

● Financial discipline;

● Management independence;

● Strategy for the future.

"Public listing is not just a new status, it's life under a microscope. If your financial statements are not compiled in 48 hours, and your strategy is not calculated for 5 years ahead, going public will not be a triumph, but a critical risk for the system."

                                                                                                         Artem Lyashanov

Alternative paths and diagnostics before the start

The global market in 2025–2026 has become more selective. In addition to the traditional IPO, Artem Lyashanov recommends paying attention to alternative mechanisms that are becoming increasingly relevant for Ukrainian businesses:

● Thanks to SEC supervision, this tool now provides rapid capital raising with lower bureaucratic costs, which is critically important for companies with limited access to Western exchanges;

● Today, investors prefer those who implement artificial intelligence to create new sources of income, and not just to optimize costs.

Self-diagnosis checklist

If you cannot provide a full report to an external auditor in 24 hours or your team is not ready for a public analysis of each decision by dozens of independent analysts, your path lies through internal optimization, not through an IPO.

Publicity is a new level of responsibility, where the winner is not the one who received a big check, but the one who is able to effectively manage it under the watchful eye of the market.

                                                                                                         Artem Lyashanov

In this article, a fintech investor analyzes the paradox of the American market in 2025, why even financially stable companies fail public offerings.