In an IPO, the underwriter is one of the key players helping a company move from private preparation to public market execution. The bank helps prepare the company for investors, shape the roadshow, build the order book, advise on pricing, and allocate shares.

By the time the roadshow begins, the company has filed, prepared, rehearsed, and lined up the ingredients needed to go public. But this is where investor demand starts becoming real. Management is in front of the buyers who may become its first public shareholders. The banks are listening for what resonates, where investors push back, how much conviction is building, and what price the market may actually support.

This is just one critical facet of IPOs explored in The Pop’s newest episode, which delves into the world of underwriting.

In Episode 2 of The Pop, a Superstate podcast exploring America’s IPO machine, host and Superstate CEO Robert Leshner sits down with Alaoui Zenere, Managing Director in Equity Capital Markets at J.P. Morgan. Alaoui has worked on major public market debuts including Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, and Bullish.

The conversation is deep and technical, peppered with war stories from Alaoui’s experience, covering:

Testing the waters
The roadshow
Investor feedback
Bookbuilding
Pricing
Allocation

For founders, issuers, and anyone trying to understand how banks and companies create demand for IPOs, this episode explores corners most people never see.

Episode 2 of The Pop is out now. Watch the full conversation on YouTube, or listen wherever you get podcasts, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

To learn more about how Superstate is building infrastructure for the next chapter of public markets, explore Opening Bell.

The Pop, Episode 2: How IPO Roadshows, Pricing, and Allocation Really Work with Alaoui Zenere