Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) are back in business. and with them, come tons of S-1. A short on how to read S-1s efficiently and effectively

1/ A Form S-1 is the initial registration form that private companies file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when they intend to go for IPOs.

2/ It looks like this:

3/ Now, whether you invest or not, I totally recommend reading an S-1 because it is a gold mine because it tells you:
1. How much the company intends to raise and how they plan to spend?
2. What do they believe their moat is?

4/
3. What is the risk they see in the future (no matter how hunky-dory the business looks like from outside)?
4. Competitive analysis of not just the company but also the industry they operate in
5. How is the company's financial performance?

5/ Reading a complete S-1 of a company is extremely time consuming and to be honest, a waste of time. For example, @asana S-1 is more than 161 pages long!
I have a framework on how to efficiently read an S-1, which I am sharing here. I hope it helps you read more S-1s!

6/ Find the Table of Contents in S-1: It looks like this:

7/ Now *only* read the sections mentioned below, in the order, they are listed:

8/ Though every S-1 is enough in its own way, this framework will give you an effective and time-efficient way to read S-1s. I hope you enjoy this and sharpen your acumen about various business models by reading S-1s efficiently and making notes off them.

Happy Reading! (/fin)