"Pre-IPO" is my current favorite misleading marketing term. Sounds exciting and likely to involve bags of money because it suggests that there ''will'' be an IPO, but that is of course by no means certain. Indeed, presumably the vast majority of "pre-IPO" companies will never IPO.

Something to consider before taking that lucrative-sounding pre-IPO job at your local fish-and-chips shop!

This is a SalesPitchDeadGiveaway.

----
Now, you're changing a term used on my page so you can in effect attack me because of what I've posted here makes you and others uncomfortable. You do not have my permission to edit my job postings on web page! How do you know our IPO situatrion? In our case, we have substance to back it up. We have already refused three offers of $100 million for the company and ''we will IPO'' in less than 12 months. We have a solid team of ex GTE and Compaq and IBM 20+ year vetrans to make sure we're on that road. But don't attack me in this way. Stick to the technology.

--SamGentile

Sorry Sam, that was tactless of me. I've actually been amused by "pre-IPO" for quite a while now, and I assure you most of the uses I've seen were not in such defensible contexts as this one :-). When I saw it on a WikiPage right after joking about it with a friend, I couldn't help but WikiName it. I'm sure the job descriptions and marketing material of every company I've ever been involved with displays the tone that I'm talking about, it was just easier to make the WikiName on your page than on glossy brochures or company web pages :-) As for the permission to modify aspect, well, that's another kettle of fish.

On a related note, I've been searching for a long time for a term descriptive of the tone adopted in company descriptions, job advertisments, resumes, etc. Does anyone have one? Maybe I should double check TheMeaningOfLiff.. -- LukeGorrie

----
It seems to me that there is a CulturalAssumption that IPO is a well known term which needs no explanation. Hence the lack of a page for InitialPublicOffering.

	I agree, I have not heard of the term before reading this page.