As The Economy Reopens, The Outlook For IPOs Improves
The pandemic reality has been both volatile and rife with uncertainty. The beginning of 2020 brought the highly contagious Covid-19 into the country, overwhelming healthcare systems and stopping the economy in its tracks. Since then, there has been major economic fallout worldwide.
The pandemic reality has been both volatile and rife with uncertainty. The beginning of 2020 brought the highly contagious Covid-19 into the country, overwhelming healthcare systems and stopping the economy in its tracks. Since then, there has been major economic fallout worldwide.
The S&P 500 hit a record high 3,386 on February 19, for example, but then plummeted by nearly a third in just about a month’s time from mid-February to mid-March. Investors panicked, and risk appetite disappeared. The S&P 500 has recovered since the low on March 23, but the pandemic has shaken the economy to its core.
Real business activity has been crushed by efforts to combat the spread of the virus. In the U.S., more than 42 million people have filed for unemployment benefits, and the unemployment rate has surged from a multidecade low to 13.3%. Real gross domestic product fell at a 5% annualized rate in the first quarter. The economy is performing at its worst since the Great Depression.
Despite the collapse of real economic activity, the financial markets continue to perform. In addition to the rebound in stock prices, initial public offerings (IPOs) have continued as well, though they have not been unaffected.
As executive search specialists and CFO consultants, our firm has a unique pulse on company strategy and Covid-19 crisis management. We’ve been preparing clients for going public in the face of current uncertainty.
About Shawn Cole, President & Cofounder
Shawn is a serial entrepreneur and executive leader with over 15 years’ experience founding and running successful companies. Shawn’s business career has been centered on value creation for both turnarounds and startups.
Shawn is President and Co-Founder of Cowen Partners, a national executive search firm focused on the key elements of a successful business: sales, marketing, and finance. Business clients across the country trust Cowen Partners to take their companies to the next level by finding them executive talent, such as a CEO, CFO, COO, Chief Revenue Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer. Clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations, typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $1 billion and $15 billion.
An active participant in the business community and startup space, Shawn Co-Chairs The Cowen Partners Venture Fund which provides seed funding and early stage investments, focusing on market disruptors in niche markets, community businesses, and minority entrepreneurs.
Shawn attended Oregon State University’s College of Business Austin Entrepreneurship Program and participated in a first-of-its-kind experiential entrepreneurship experiment at Weatherford Hall. He was also a Founding Member and President of Oregon State University’s Students in Free Enterprise, an international non-profit organization working with university students who want to positively change their communities and learn practical knowledge to become socially responsible business leaders.
About Cowen Partners Executive Search
Cowen Partners is a leader among the nation’s best CFO executive search firms, enabling companies to harness the power of human capital to fuel their success. Cowen Partners gives our clients access to the top 1% of human capital to create opportunities that accelerate their growth and market share. With Cowen Partners, clients can grow at scale, create value, and drive results with world class talent. Our clients are both small and large, publicly traded, pre-IPO, private, and non-profit organizations.
Clients are typically $50 million to multi-billion dollar revenue Fortune 1000 companies or have assets between $500 million to $15 billion. Successful placements span the entire C-Suite and include VP and director level leadership roles.
With our proven processes and guaranteed results, we have successfully placed hundreds of candidates in industries including technology, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, financial services, and private equity.
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