There are conferences you attend, and there are conferences that recalibrate how you think about the next decade. TDK Ventures’ 100X 2026, held this week in Burlingame, California, was firmly in the second category. As a proud co-sponsor on behalf of Foley, I had the privilege of supporting my friend and client Nicolas Sauvage, President…

By Louis Lehot. Market data as of the August 21, 2026 close.The sun was dropping behind the Ferry Building when the question got asked. After two years of a closed IPO window, is it open? And if so, are you ready?That was the premise of a panel at Protiviti’s San Francisco office, moderated by Golreez Naderi of…

Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we examined a rapidly improving initial public offering (IPO) market, the proposed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reforms aimed at expanding access to the public markets, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on transaction diligence.This month, we explore how a record-setting IPO market continues to reward companies that…

By Louis Lehot, Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP. Garage to global, since Y2K.After 25 years advising companies from the garage to the public markets, I have learned to pay attention when a room of CFOs stops being polite. That happened on Tuesday, July 22, at our Foley office in Palo Alto, where we hosted the latest…

Friends,In last month’s newsletter, we looked at how long hold periods and scarce exits are pushing sponsors to put artificial intelligence (AI) at the center of value creation. What a difference a month makes: the initial public offering (IPO) window is open.SpaceX went public on June 12, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO…

Notes from an evening with the Public Company Accounting Oversight BoardBy Louis Lehot and Kelly BoydIf you sit on a public company board, especially on the audit committee, your life already revolves around financial reporting, the audit and the audit process. The auditors are constantly in the foreground and the background of everything that goes on.…

By Louis Lehot. From garage to global, since Y2K. A read on Rob Bartlett’s June 2026 Jefferies Software Valuation Update, for the founders, CEOs, and directors who have to make a decision about it.Friends,I am not a banker, and I do not call markets. But I read Rob Bartlett’s monthly Jefferies note the way I read…