CapV Is Betting That IPO Communications Should Start Long Before the Filing
Capital V Strategies is expanding its communications practice to help companies prepare their narratives, leadership, and reputations well before an IPO, acquisition, or other major corporate event.
Companies that prepare to go public often spend months, and even years, getting their financial reporting, governance, legal structure, and leadership teams ready for the demands of the public markets. Capital V Strategies, or CapV, is making the case that communications should be part of that preparation much earlier.
Founded by entrepreneur and business leader Jessica Schaefer, the strategic communications and advisory firm has launched a Transactions & IPO Communications division led by Andy Dueñas, a corporate communications executive with experience at JPMorgan Chase and Walgreens. Lucy Peng and Abby Vare are also joining the practice, bringing experience from firms and companies including Nasdaq, ICR, Brunswick Group, Burson, and SoftBank Investment Advisers.
CapV is launching the division as IPO activity begins to pick up and companies face greater public scrutiny. For founders considering an IPO, M&A transaction, or another major corporate event, the broader point is that communications readiness does not begin with the announcement itself. Executive positioning, reputation, media relationships, and preparation for difficult issues are already taking shape well before a transaction becomes public.
Start preparing the narrative before the transaction
“As we enter the age of centicorns with renewed IPO activity, and growing public scrutiny, communications has cemented itself as a strategic seat next to the CEO,” Dueñas says. “Throughout my career, I’ve seen firsthand how the right communications strategy can help organizations navigate uncertainty, earn trust, and accelerate growth.”
Dueñas brings more than a decade of experience working through high-stakes corporate moments. He led communications, supported JPMorgan Chase’s $30 billion Racial Equity Commitment, and worked on corporate communications during Walgreens’ business transformation.
That background is central to the new practice CapV is building. A major transaction may have a defined filing, announcement, or closing date, but the company’s public narrative has been developing long before that point. The way executives communicate, the reputation the company has built, and its ability to respond under scrutiny can all become more important as the stakes increase.
CapV’s new division is designed to work with public and private companies across sectors including AI, banking, fintech, payments, digital assets, lending, insurance, proptech, and financial infrastructure. Its work will include executive positioning, thought leadership, media relations, crisis management, issues preparedness, transaction communications, and reputation strategy.
Recognize when communications becomes a CEO-level responsibility
For founders, one of the harder adjustments that comes with growth is recognizing that communications itself becomes more consequential.
“We’re in an unprecedented era for communications where CEOs are living through always-on news cycles,” says Schaefer, who also serves as CEO of CapV. “A smart, strategic communications partner is one of the most important investments you can make before a major M&A or IPO event.”
Schaefer founded CapV after previously building Bevel, where she worked with companies as they grew from valuations in the tens of millions into multibillion-dollar businesses. CapV now advises CEOs, founders, and companies on narrative, reputation, and growth, with a particular focus on technology and financial services.
The new transactions practice extends that work into moments when executive communication carries even more weight. A company approaching an IPO or major transaction has more audiences paying attention, and CapV’s approach is to prepare leadership for that environment before the company reaches the point where every decision is being communicated under pressure.
Treat communications as part of transaction readiness
CapV is also putting resources behind the new division. The firm plans to hire as many as 25 employees by the end of the third quarter.
Peng and Vare add experience from public markets, investor communications, and executive positioning. Peng has worked at Nasdaq, ICR, Brunswick Group, and Burson, while Vare previously advised SoftBank Investment Advisers on fund communications and executive positioning.
Together, the team reflects the range of communications work CapV expects companies to need around major transactions. Preparing for an IPO is not limited to the filing itself. It also includes how executives are positioned, how the company explains its direction, how it prepares for scrutiny, and how it manages the reputation already surrounding the business.
For founders, that is the larger lesson behind CapV’s announcement. Communications can be treated as something to address when a transaction is already close, or it can be developed alongside the other parts of the business that need to mature before a company enters a more public stage. CapV is building its new division around the second approach.
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