Last November, Matt shared one of Donald Trump’s new plans for greatness.
Not to make America great again. But to make IPOs great again.
Recent news out of Washington suggests he’s pushing harder than ever — and getting closer.
But if he wins, beware: investors like you could fall into a trap!
That’s why it’s so important to read what I’m about to tell you.
A Shift — From Wall Street to the Private Markets
For years, America’s public markets have been shrinking.
According to the World Bank, the number of U.S. public companies has fallen by half since the 1990s — from more than 8,000 listings to barely 4,000 today.
It’s not that innovation has slowed. It’s that companies are choosing to stay private.
As reported by CNBC, in 1980, companies would go public after about six years. By 2010, that number had gone up to 11 years. And by 2024, it reached 14 years. Meanwhile, private markets have exploded: in the last decade alone, they’ve more than doubled in size, to $22 trillion.
Simply put, the action has shifted — from Wall Street to the private markets.
Why Wait to Go Public?
Many entrepreneurs are reluctant to go public. For example:
- “Being public is definitely an invitation to pain.” — Elon Musk in 2022.
- “You want to stay private as long as possible.” — Edwin Chen, Founder of Surge AI.
- “Going public is no longer something a company really looks forward to.” — Ben Miller, CEO of real-estate platform Fundrise.
There are two main reasons companies are waiting to go public.
First, there’s no need to go public just to raise funding. Startups today can raise billions from private-market investors. That just wasn’t the case 20 years ago.
Second, being public comes with significant headaches. Quarterly reporting, shareholder lawsuits, endless disclosure requirements — it’s easy to see why an IPO doesn’t feel like a golden ticket anymore.
Many companies are content with the status quo. But Trump sure isn’t…
Make IPOs Great Again!
President Trump would like to see more companies go public. From his perspective, a healthy IPO market isn’t just good for companies, it’s essential for the economy.
More IPOs mean more opportunities for everyday investors, and more competition for capital.
That’s why Trump aims to make IPOs great again. And it’s why he’s turning to SEC Chairman Paul Atkins to make it happen.
The New Atkins Plan
Chairman Atkins’ strategy focuses on three main ideas:
- Reduce reporting and disclosure requirements. The SEC is exploring ending quarterly reporting, arguing that fewer filings could reduce cost and stress for public companies.
- Limit shareholder proposals. Companies would be legally permitted to ignore proposals that touch on “environmental or social issues.”
- Reduce shareholder lawsuits. The SEC would allow companies to force shareholder disputes into arbitration. That means many cases would stay behind closed doors.
In short, Atkins aims to make it less onerous and expensive to be a public company.
What Happens Next?
Just last week, the SEC began preparing a proposal to eliminate quarterly reporting. Atkins says it would remove the “torture” and expense of filing required reports and disclosure.
Would removing it actually lead to more IPOs?
Many experts believe it might. And at first blush, this might look like a boon to investors like you. After all, a surge in IPOs looks like a way to join the “profit party.”
But don’t RSVP just yet. You see, investing in IPOs sure doesn’t guarantee you profits. In fact, IPO investors often end up losing money. Let me show you a few well-known examples:
- Blue Apron (APRN) IPO’d in 2017. Over the next year, shares fell more than 70%.
- Six months after Snap (SNAP) went public, its shares were down 40%.
- Shares of Lyft (LYFT) and Uber (UBER) fell ~30% in the months following their IPOs.
Examples like these are almost endless: Facebook, Groupon, Zynga, Peloton, Casper — all these companies handed their IPO investors big losses.
And these losses continue today. Last September, for example, Stubhub (STUB) IPO’d at $23.50 per share. Today, its shares trade for less than $8. That’s a loss of ~66% in six months. A $1,000 investment in its IPO would be worth just $340 today.
Furthermore, drops like these are becoming the norm. According to data from financial-website StockAnalysis, there were 347 IPOs on U.S. stock exchanges in 2025. As of March of this year, a whopping 60% of those companies were trading below their IPO prices. So if you’d invested in all those companies at their IPO, you’d be sitting on a big fat loss on over half your investments.
I get it — investing right at the IPO can be tempting. It’s a chance to finally grab shares in exciting companies that are poised to grow and deliver profits.
But as we’ve written about many times (here and here, for example), the biggest gains get delivered by investing before the IPO, while the company is still private.
The good news is that more IPOs could mean more liquidity events — in other words, more opportunities for private investors to cash out.
If IPOs become great again, we could see more exits, and more opportunities to pocket gains.
The Bottom Line
Trump may succeed in “making IPOs great again.” If he does, it could unlock a wave of new public offerings.
But for investors, the takeaway is clear:
IPOs aren’t the starting line. They’re the finish line.
The real opportunity is getting in early — identifying promising private companies before they go public, before valuations spike, and before the crowd arrives.
That’s exactly where the biggest potential returns are created. And it’s exactly what Crowdability was built to help you do.
Happy investing,
Editor
Crowdability.com
