BACK TO BLOG
Taking a company public—or preparing it for acquisition—can be a hugely demanding test of leadership. It requires more than just operational know-how or a watertight growth strategy. It calls for emotional discipline, strategic vision, and a kind of nerve you can’t learn from a textbook.
Gregory Knox Jones has been there. Not once or twice, but consistently—leading companies through the unforgiving terrain of IPOs and strategic exits, and doing so with a level of composure and conviction that has become his signature.
Greg is a Senior Partner and Co-Founder of Edgewater Private Equity Funds, a Chicago-based firm he helped establish and lead. Before that, he was perhaps best known as the CEO and Chairman of uBid.com, the dot-com era marketplace he founded and took public with extraordinary success, achieving almost $500 million in revenue and cementing his status as a formidable businessman.
From senior operational roles in diverse sectors to active positions on portfolio company boards, Greg’s career offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to lead during make-or-break moments in an organization’s life. He’s also a respected voice beyond the boardroom, having received multiple honors, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1999 and the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation’s Self Above Service Award in 2021.
So, what does real leadership look like in the eye of the IPO storm? And how do you lead with integrity through the uncertainty of a strategic exit? Here are the leadership lessons we can take from Gregory Knox Jones’s journey.
Understanding The High-Stakes World of IPOs and Exits
The glamour and headlines of an IPO can hide the immense complexity involved. The same goes for acquisitions. These aren’t just financial events, they’re full-scale organizational transformations, and as such, the amount of work involved should not be underestimated.
For founders and executives, the pressure comes from every direction. There’s the scrutiny of regulators and investors, sure. But there’s also the weight of responsibility to employees, customers, and the culture that you’ve built.
That’s why leadership style matters more than ever during these transitions. When a company is heading into an IPO or courting strategic buyers, the CEO becomes both a microscope and a megaphone. Every decision is dissected. Every word is heard far and wide. In those moments, a steady hand at the helm isn’t optional. It is existential.
Navigating The Emotional Side of Leadership
Balancing confidence and humility
Greg has often spoken about the fine line leaders must walk between conviction and ego. During intense and high-risk periods like IPOs or exits, self-belief is essential, as is your belief in your strategy and your team. But unchecked confidence can tip quickly into blindness, and mistakes can happen. There’s truth in the saying “pride comes before a fall.”
The best leaders, Greg suggests, remain coachable. They seek counsel. They don’t pretend to have all the answers. And when needed, they listen more than they speak. In Buddhism, they call this “the beginner’s mind.” In business, they call this a growth mindset, and it requires both humility and confidence.
Managing founder identity during exit
One of the most under-discussed aspects of leadership during an exit is what it does to your sense of self. If you’ve spent years building a company, letting go—either symbolically or practically—can feel like losing a limb.
Greg has navigated this terrain with grace, knowing when to stay involved and when to step back. For him, it’s an important reminder that founders are not their companies, no matter how much they live the values or principles of the organization. That distinction is vital for both personal sanity and long-term organizational health.
Leading teams through uncertainty with empathy
Turbulent times in a business—such as during a floatation or acquisition—involve a lot of moving parts, a lot of organization, and a lot of uncertainty. During periods like this, employees don’t just need information; they need reassurance. That doesn’t mean sugarcoating the truth, but it does mean communicating with care, listening to concerns, and showing that you see the human impact of every decision.
In the Nguni Bantu languages of Southern Africa, “Ubuntu” is a word that translates literally as “I am because we are.” It is a belief that a person’s humanity comes through their connection to their community and their environment. This philosophy has become popular in businesses because it recognizes that a business, and all the people in it, exist because of all their input. And during intense transformational periods, it offers a perspective that allows everyone to feel seen and heard.
Greg’s ability to lead with empathy echoes this philosophy, and even when under pressure, it has been one of his defining strengths. Whether it’s keeping a team aligned through a pre-IPO sprint or helping employees navigate post-acquisition change, he shows up with both clarity and compassion, two vital ingredients for successful leadership.
Core Leadership Lessons from Gregory Knox Jones
Vision with velocity
One of Greg’s most consistent traits as a leader is his ability to think long-term without losing grip on the short-term. Whether scaling uBid.com or supporting Edgewater’s portfolio companies, he’s shown that vision alone isn’t enough – you need executional urgency.
Of course, this means setting ambitious goals. But there must also be action and power to drive toward them with rigor and rhythm. “Move fast, aim high, get it done,” might as well be his motto, and it’s an approach that empowers change.
Building and empowering the right team
IPOs are not solo efforts, and no exit deal gets done without a cast of operators, analysts, advisors, and cultural stewards. Who you surround yourself with is as important as the skills and experience you bring to the table. After all, entrepreneur Jim Rohn famously stated that “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Greg surrounds himself with people who are not only capable but trusted. He empowers them to lead in their own right while staying aligned to a shared north star. He’s known for creating a culture of distributed ownership, where autonomy is balanced with accountability.
Transparency builds trust
In an era of buzzwords and shareholder theatre, Greg’s style is refreshingly direct. He communicates clearly with investors, board members, and employees. He doesn’t hide behind jargon or vague reassurances. Clear communication is worth more than any amount of spin.
Especially in times of uncertainty, transparency isn’t just nice to have. It’s the currency of trust. And trust, as Jones has demonstrated time and again, is what allows a company to weather the storms of transition and come out smiling on the other side.
Data-informed, people-led decisions
Greg has always valued data. But he’s also wary of letting numbers obscure nuance. His leadership blends rigorous analysis with an instinctive understanding of people—what motivates them, how they work, and why they matter. It is people who make decisions, build customer relationships, and embody the company’s offerings. They must, therefore, be the ones who decide the direction of the company.
This balance between analytics and empathy shows up in everything from hiring decisions to strategic pivots. The result? Decisions that are both defensible and deeply human, made by people who are invested in the success of the business.
Resilience in the face of scrutiny
There’s no hiding during an IPO. No place to retreat in the middle of a merger negotiation. Every flaw is magnified and every weakness is probed.
Steadiness in those moments, the ability to absorb pressure without passing it down, is one of the clearest hallmarks of strong leadership. This is a trait of Greg’s leadership style. He brings a calm urgency to high-stress environments, which is why people tend to follow him not just because of his resume, but because of his presence.
Knowing when to let go
Leadership during transition isn’t just about steering; it’s also about stepping aside. Timing matters, and there’s great wisdom in knowing when to hold the reins and when to pass them on.
This is perhaps the hardest lesson of all: preparing both the company and yourself for what comes next. Not every leader gets it right. But Greg’s track record shows that letting go—done well—can be the final act of great leadership.
Practical Takeaways for Founders and Executives
Audit your own readiness
Before your company is ready to exit or go public, ask yourself: are you? The emotional and leadership maturity required is significant. You’ll be tested in ways you can’t yet see. Do the internal work early, be honest with yourself, and get ready for the hard work to come.
Cultivate an exit mindset early
Even if you’re years away from a transaction, start thinking like someone who could exit. Build processes that scale. Document what you do. Create clarity for the next person—even if that person is still just a possibility. And prepare for the emotional impact of handing over the keys to your business to someone else.
Prioritize Culture Through Change
Culture often erodes during high-growth or transition phases – not because leaders stop caring, but because other things start to feel more urgent. Don’t let it happen. If anything, culture and your employees need more attention when everything else is shifting.
Gregory Knox Jones has built and exited companies at the highest level. But what sets him apart isn’t just what he’s done; it’s how he’s led the way throughout every transaction. He leads with conviction, but without ego. With urgency, but not haste. With strategy, but also soul.
For founders and executives staring down the prospect of IPOs or strategic exits, Greg’s example offers a clear message: transitions don’t just test your leadership, they define it. The legacy you leave isn’t just in the valuation or the press release. It’s in how you showed up when it mattered most.