Canva and the Choice to Stay Private

In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle break down one of the most consequential questions in tech right now: which major private company will IPO first, and just how big will it be? From Anthropic and SpaceX to OpenAI, Databricks, and Canva, they rank the candidates, debate the motivations to go public in an era of unlimited private capital, and unpack what it means when an IPO could raise $100 billion or more. They also dig into the murky world of split-valuation fundraising rounds — and what it signals about the current market.

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SPONSORS:

RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com

Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit https://www.tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.

HockeyStack is an AI platform for modern go-to-market teams that unifies sales, marketing, and customer data into a single system of action. With AI agents that prospect accounts, support reps, improve forecasting, and automate what's already working, HockeyStack helps teams move faster without guessing. Trusted by companies like RingCentral, Outreach, ActiveCampaign, and Fortune 100 teams—learn more at https://www.hockeystack.com

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LINKS:

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/

Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/

Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Preview and intro

1:23 Intro banter and skincare routines

3:51 IPO candidates and capital intensity

5:28 Why go public when private capital is infinite?

6:00 The case for going public

8:32 Secondary market data and VC pressure

9:26 Ranking the candidates: Anthropic first

11:04 Sponsors — RightRev | Tropic | HockeyStack

14:48 IPO banking fees

16:13 SpaceX: second in line

17:00 SpaceX valuation and capital raised

18:01 OpenAI: third

19:33 Databricks: fourth

21:51 Canva: last on the list

24:05 Stripe

25:11 Honorable mentions: Ramp, Anysphere/Cursor, Plaid

26:37 Wildcard: Liquid Death

27:07 Business blunder: split-valuation fundraising

31:11 Credits

#MostlyGrowthPodcast #IPO #AIStocks #SaaSGrowth #VentureCapital