The Untold Secrets Behind Orla O’Gorman’s Rise to IPO Mastermind—And What It Means for Your Next Big Move
Ever wondered what really goes on behind the curtain when a company takes that colossal leap into the world of IPOs? It’s not just about popping champagne bottles and ringing bells—there’s a labyrinth of strategic decisions, financial gymnastics, and leadership recalibrations that can take years to align. Now, imagine having a seasoned guide like Orla O’Gorman by your side, someone who’s navigated these treacherous waters with over 25 years of hard-earned wisdom. From reluctant accountant to corporate finance trailblazer, Orla’s journey is anything but ordinary—and it’s packed with invaluable lessons for any company gearing up to raise capital and scale. Buckle up, because if you think prepping for an IPO is straightforward, you’re in for a surprise. Let’s dive into the dos and don’ts, and uncover what it really takes to make the jump with confidence and savvy. LEARN MORE
Orla O’Gorman talks to Sarah Freeman about her journey through the corporate world, how she’s become a leading advisor on IPOs and the dos and don’ts for companies thinking about raising finance
The strategic considerations to be considered when ascertaining if your company is ready for an IPO are enormous.
From tax and financial preparations to internal systems and functions definitions as well as leadership roles and timeline, the baseline work alone can take years. And that’s before any consideration of challenging and unpredictable markets.
If anyone knows what it takes to bring about an IPO, it’s Orla O’Gorman. The founder and CEO of OR Advisory has built a career in advising scaling companies.
She has amassed over 25 years of experience in how they operate and the issues they face, through her work as an executive leader, advisor, capital markets operator and non-executive director.
It was early in her career when O’Gorman, who was working as an accountant but “never really enjoyed it all that much”, was called into the corporate finance department.
“I did loads of corporate finance work, and I loved that. I realised that actually, with the accounting side of it, you’re not doing all the exciting stuff [like] raising the money. That’s what I wanted to do. I love the deal.”
While O’Gorman’s role as corporate finance manager for AMB AMRO Bank N.V. was very satisfying, it came to a premature end when her boss died of an illness at the age of 52.
Almost immediately, she was offered a role with one of her erstwhile clients for whom she’d been instrumental in raising funds. The strategy was to list on Nasdaq, but the dot-com bubble hit and all plans soon hit the buffers.
“I found myself after three wonderful years there and lots of hard times, which I think is when you do all your learning, worrying about cash and making people redundant. I found that really hard, in my late 20s. It was my first experience of that.”
The company was split into a number of different units and with the founder directors leaving, O’Gorman decided it was time for her to go too.
“I was actually pregnant at the time as well. So I found myself pregnant, jobless, and doing up my house, living with my parents. I thought, that’s the instigator to start working for myself.”
For a few months afterwards, as well as mentoring a number of entities, O’Gorman acted as interim CFO of a company and secured a deal on December 23.
“Myself and my new little baby worked through the night selling it to an American company. But it was all great.”
O’Gorman is understated about the degree to which her ability and work ethic has contributed to the success that followed.
“I was lucky, really. I just went from transaction to transaction, advising companies. [When] the two main stockbrokers were doing big transactions, they might have a stretched company team and executive team and they’d say, we know someone who can really help you with this.
“So I’d go in. I did loads of that, and then I ended up going into the stock exchange to run the restructuring of that.”
For context, the Dublin Stock Exchange was first established in 1793 and since then various iterations have come and gone, merged and separated.
In the early 1970s it merged with other Irish and British stock exchanges, ultimately forming the International Stock Exchange of Great Britain and Ireland which later became the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
In 1995, the Irish exchange separated from the LSE and named itself the Irish Stock Exchange (ISE). In 2018 the ISE was acquired by Euronext, a pan-European exchange group across seven jurisdictions, and rebranded as Euronext Dublin.
Ultimately, O’Gorman would spend seven years with Euronext, first as head of equity at the Irish Stock Exchange and subsequently as Head of Listing Ireland & UK, Euronext. It was there that she saw a need for a structured approach to helping companies prepare for an IPO.
“I felt there were a number of gaps where the Exchange could do more. But more importantly, I had spent my whole life working with companies raising money and I had seen so many mistakes. So many people had come to me at difficult points, asking, ‘what do I do here?’ I felt people don’t understand raising finance, advisors sometimes use jargon and it can seem quite complex, but it’s not really.
“And if you’re the founder of a company, you really have to actually understand what you’re doing and why you’re raising money and how much you’re raising and what you’re going to use it for, and also what the plan is.”
O’Gorman reasoned that it was about helping people understand finance. She approached the existing list of companies who said they’d be happy to help, as did investors. Enterprise Ireland were also supportive and so the programme, IPOready, began in March 2015.
“People want to be part of something successful and they wanted to help other Irish companies.”
Since its inception, the pre-IPO IPOready programme has supported over 1,200 alumni with participation from companies in 22 countries, resulting in 39 successful listings on Euronext markets. These companies have raised more than €1.8 billion at listing, achieving a combined market capitalisation of nearly €7bn. In 2025 alone, seven IPO ready alumni listed on Euronext markets.
“The real secret sauce in the programme is the CEO-to-CEO and CFO-to-CFO engagement. So we get the CEO and CFO to come on the course, because I think they’re a really powerful duo. We used to put the 12 CEOs in a room and the 12 CFOs in a room, and we would just throw a few ideas in there and get them talking. The power of that connectivity and openness to share was really powerful.”
After seven years in total at Euronext, and with a flourishing IPO ready programme underway, O’Gorman sought a new challenge and had a clear idea of what she wanted. “Before I left, I was headhunted for the role of CEO of a company. That was actually good, because that made me really think, do I want another job? Or is this [working for myself] what I want to do? I always use the word ‘lucky’ and some people say you shouldn’t because that’s not giving yourself any credit, but I don’t have a big ego. I think a lot of life is luck and just keeping your eyes out and seeing opportunities and going for them. You make your own luck too. But timing is everything.”
Since then, O’Gorman has been asked to join a number of boards as a non-executive director including Cairn Homes, Elite SpA, Cubic3, Bon Secours Health System Ireland and, most recently, Mincon. She is also on the Steering Committee of Scale Ireland.
“There’s lots of variety and I love that.”
QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS
What’s the biggest misconception that founders have about getting IPO-ready?
Being IPO-ready is a state. So if you’re ready for IPO, you’re ready for anything. I am a big believer in investment-ready, because when you start an investment round, you’re interacting with investors, and you want to show a level of confidence and competence.
Why should you set up to scale?
Setting yourself up from day one to be a big company is really important, because what you can have otherwise is growth at all costs, and there’s a big cost to that. Have you thought through the scalability of your product? Do you know, if you get orders, can you fulfil them? Or do you have the right technology infrastructure?
How can CEOs prepare?
The CEO needs to be committed to stay with the company for a certain period and be able for the transparency that comes with it, including around pay.
What are investors looking for?
An investor will ask, ‘why you?’ Sometimes founders are super at selling their product or their service, and they can do it all day long, but this isn’t a product or service sale. You want them to believe in your business and the long-term value of your business. It’s a totally different sell.
Any advice to founders?
Understand your business and what finance can do for it. Finance is like fuel. If you got 5, 10, 20 million euro, what could you do? You could have some debt and you could have some equity in different types of equity. And have the right team around you.
Any policy changes needed?
We need government policy to support entrepreneurs. Share options are very penal from a tax perspective. There are some amazing Irish companies, and they’re below the radar, they’re providing employment, they’re paying taxes all over the country. The goal is to support and grow these companies.
The best part of an IPO?
The best part of being a listed company is access to finance. There’s the ability to use your shares for acquisitions, rewarding employees. I love to see founders who are generous with their employees, giving share options and the ability to participate. I mean, it’s magic.
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