Investment bankers talk about “The Window.”

When The Window is open, you can “File.”

When the window is closed, you can’t file. (General rule)

The window can slam shut at any time. It is usually declared open after 1-2 obviously strong filers actually Make It Out and Trade Up, after which more marginal players can start gingerly to try going out.

Once it’s fully obvious that the window is open, IPOs are a super hot commodity and bankers will work themselves to death to take out any promising deal. These are some of the best transactions for bankers and historically were 7% headlines in fees and a lot of extra opportunity for enrichment and influence through the green shoe and the ability to dole out allocations to private clients.

When the window is closed, there might be an equivalent flow of IPOable companies ready, but they won’t make it out. They’ll wait for the window, sell in strategic M&A, or occasionally even opt to stay private.

But the reason we have so many S-1s right now is that the consensus of the animal spirits is that The Window Is Open.

A lot of tech IPOs recently after a decently long drought. There is conjecture that people are rushing to get them filed before a recession hits and it's more difficult to go public.

And more difficult to continue to secure funding for companies that have yet to make a profit.

HN is always interested in tech-related S-1s, but there has been a recent uptick in filings. The most common explanation I've seen for the increase is economic uncertainty -- everyone is trying to get their S-1s in while investors are available.

> And if the latter, is there any reason?

Recession fears

This plus a lack of IPOs in general. People are trying to find "deals" in tech especially those who have seen their peers make fortunes on the FAANG's.

Money is cheap, downturn coming — good time to have liquidity event.