At Inkhouse, in addition to ServiceTitan, we’ve led several tech companies — Amplitude, CarbonBlack (later acquired by VMWare), Okta, and Remitly, as well as the fast-growing, fast-casual restaurant chain CAVA — through the IPO process. Each company had a different journey because no two IPOs, companies, or legal, finance, and executive teams are the same. Yet for each, there were three commonalities while navigating the quiet periods: building a great story, training executives, and educating key reporters before listing day.
Besides a Forbes profile in 2021, ServiceTitan’s executives rarely spoke to business and tech media, even as a regular on the Forbes Cloud 100, climbing as high as #6 in 2024.
We used the intrigue about this long-rumored IPO to our advantage. Working with ServiceTitan’s comms, legal, finance, and executive teams, we developed a game plan focused on message development and executive preparedness. At the same time, we continued to tell product and customer-focused stories to relevant trade publications to ensure a steady stream of on-message coverage.
Co-founders Ara Mahdessian and Vahe Kuzoyan grew up as the sons of plumbing and contractor small business owners; seeing their families’ struggles to do their work and grow their businesses inspired ServiceTitan’s founding. We worked with ServiceTitan to inject that message and their devotion to the men and women of the skilled trades into corporate storytelling.
Thorough media training ensured they would be prepared for tough questions about everything from the intricacies of the company’s funding and finances to the effects of a new administration’s immigration policies on its customers. We also selectively briefed a handful of business reporters off the record to form relationships with them in advance of the listing day so media coverage would be more about the company, its promise, and relevance and less about stock performance. We also ensured ServiceTitan’s key investors were aligned with key messaging when they served as proxy spokespeople about the news.