All the face-to-face interviews were tape recorded and transcribed, whereas notes were taken during the telephone interviews. The transcribed empirical material exceeded 300 pages. The interviews were semi-structured and began with an exploration of the informant's professional background and current occupational role. Then questions were asked in an open-ended manner about how the informant had experienced: the procedure of going public, the preparation for the IPO, the situation immediately after the IPO was completed, and the situation after the firm had been listed on the stock exchange for at least one year.