Can't the investment bank handle ground logistics?

Banks book meetings, not cars. They'll arrange a car service in each city, but they don't plan routes, track traffic, issue run sheets, or coordinate between cities. The bank handles the investors. The desk handles the ground.

How early do you start planning a roadshow?

Ideally a week before. The desk identifies every venue, maps every route, sources drivers in each city, and builds the run sheet template. For last-minute roadshows, the desk can stand up in 48 hours - but the quality of route planning drops without the lead time.

What happens if a meeting runs over?

The desk monitors the schedule in real time. If a meeting runs 20 minutes long, the desk re-cuts the route to the next venue, notifies the driver, and adjusts the timing. The CFO doesn't call anyone. The desk handles it and sends an updated run sheet.

How do you handle multi-city car sourcing?

Through pre-held ground partners in each city. The desk doesn't cold-call a car service in Frankfurt at 10 PM. It activates a vetted, contracted partner who knows the standards. Same desk, same run sheet, same accountability - different city, different driver.

What's the difference between a roadshow run sheet and a regular travel itinerary?

An itinerary lists where you're going. A run sheet lists how you're getting there, who's driving you, what route they're taking, what time they're arriving, and what happens if something changes. An itinerary is a document. A run sheet is a plan.

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Corporate & Events 6 MIN READ

Corporate Roadshow Logistics: 12 Cities, 6 Days, One Run Sheet

Name: GCS
Address: Tel Aviv, IL
Telephone: +972 50-666-6444

A roadshow is not 12 bookings. It's one operation with 12 moving parts - and if one part breaks, the meeting doesn't happen and the money doesn't close.

GCS Team · Published: Aug 2026

A black sedan waiting at the kerb outside a plain stone office facade in a European city at early morning. — 39Car at the door before the first meeting - route and timing locked the night before.

12cities

Average cities visited on an IPO roadshow [2]

6days

Average roadshow duration [2]

$2.5M+

Cost of one missed investor meeting [1]

$18K-$45K

Ground transport cost for an average roadshow [2]

Your CFO is doing an IPO roadshow. Twelve cities in six days. London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Geneva, Paris, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Tel Aviv, and back to London for a closing dinner. Each city has a breakfast meeting, a lunch meeting, and two one-on-ones. Each meeting is at a different venue. Each venue needs a car, a route, and a timing that works.

The investment bank has booked the flights. The hotel chain has confirmed the rooms. The IR team has scheduled the meetings. Everything is booked.

And yet, on day three, your CFO is 45 minutes late to a $40 million meeting in Zurich because the car was waiting at the wrong entrance and nobody planned the route around the Friday afternoon traffic on the Bahnhofstrasse.

The booking was correct. The logistics failed. And a single missed investor meeting can cost over $2.5 million in potential commitment [1].

What a Roadshow Actually Is

IPO roadshow by the numbers (2026)

Average cities visited12

Average duration6 days

Meetings per day3-4

Ground transport cost$18,000-$45,000

Cost of one missed meeting$2.5M+

Investors per meeting1-15

Cars per city1-3

Hotels per night1

Run sheets needed1 per day

A roadshow looks like a travel itinerary. It isn't. It's a logistics operation. Every city is a new stage with a new set of variables: traffic patterns, venue locations, driver quality, weather, security, and the physical and mental state of an executive who has been on planes for three days straight.

The investment bank books the meetings. The IR team manages the investor list. The TMC books the flights. Nobody owns the ground - the 45 minutes between the hotel and the first meeting, the route from the lunch venue to the afternoon one-on-one, the car that needs to be waiting at the right entrance before the CFO walks out.

That gap is where roadshows succeed or fail.

The Ground Layer

What the ground layer covers (per city, per day)

CarRight vehicle, right timeCFO waits on the curb
RouteTraffic-aware, planned in advance, not guessed45 min late to a $40M meeting
DriverNamed, vetted, knows the cityWrong entrance, wrong address
TimingBuffer built in for delays, traffic, weatherBack-to-back meetings with no recovery
Meeting venueConfirmed, entrance identified, parking arrangedDriver goes to the wrong door
Hotel coordinationCheckout handled, bags sent aheadCFO waits for the bell desk
Recovery time15 min between meetingsCFO arrives exhausted and unprepared

Each of these is a single point of failure. In a 12-city roadshow, you have 12 × 7 = 84 potential failure points. If even one breaks - a late car, a wrong route, a missed turn - the cascade affects every meeting after it.

The Run Sheet

The run sheet is the single document that prevents the cascade. It's issued the night before every day of the roadshow, in the traveler's time zone.

Sample run sheet (Day 3: Zurich)

07:15Hotel lobbyCar - S-Class, plate ZH-1843. Driver: Markus, +41 79 XXX
07:45Baur au LacBreakfast meeting, Goldwing Partners - private dining room
09:15TransferBahnhofstrasse via Quaibrücke - avoids Friday market traffic
09:30UBS HQOne-on-one: Mr. K., floor 14
11:00TransferBahnhofstrasse to Bleicherweg, 8 min, traffic-aware
11:15Hotel SavoyLunch meeting: Swiss pension fund delegation (6 pax)
13:30TransferAirport route via A1, 20 min
14:00ZRH AirportFlight LX 1234 to FRA. Departure lounge booked

Every time, every address, every driver's name and number, every route - in writing, the night before. The CFO reads the run sheet at the hotel bar, not on the phone with the driver.

The Cost of Ground Failure

Roadshow ground failure costs

Late to investor meeting

Cost$2.5M+ per missed meeting

ImpactInvestor loses confidence [1]

Wrong car or wrong venue

Cost30-60 min delay

ImpactEntire day's schedule shifts

Unplanned route

Cost15-45 min delay

ImpactCFO arrives unprepared

No recovery time

CostExecutive burnout

ImpactPoor meeting performance

Lost documents

Cost2-4 hours to resolve

ImpactDelayed or missed closing

Wrong hotel entrance

Cost10-20 min delay

ImpactCumulative schedule drift

The ground transport cost for an average IPO roadshow is $18,000-$45,000 [2]. The cost of one failed meeting is $2.5 million or more [1]. The ratio of ground cost to meeting value is roughly 1:100. The ground is the cheapest part of the roadshow and the one most likely to break it.

How to Run It From One Desk

The mistake most companies make is letting the investment bank handle logistics. The bank books meetings. The TMC books flights. The hotel chain books rooms. Nobody coordinates the ground - and the ground is where the roadshow lives or dies.

One desk vs fragmented logistics

Cars per cityFragmentedEach city sourced separatelyOne deskOne desk, one contract, one standard

Route planningFragmentedDriver's local knowledgeOne deskPre-planned with live traffic

Driver qualityFragmentedVaries by cityOne deskVetted, named per city

CommunicationFragmentedCFO calls driver in each cityOne deskCFO calls desk, desk calls driver

Run sheetFragmentedIR team emails an itineraryOne deskIssued by desk, night before

ChangesFragmentedCFO re-plans on the flyOne deskDesk re-cuts, CFO informed

RecoveryFragmentedNot plannedOne deskBuilt into schedule

One desk. One run sheet. One number. The CFO never calls a driver. The CFO calls the desk. The desk calls the driver. The desk knows the traffic. The desk knows the meeting venue. The desk knows that the Bahnhofstrasse has a Friday market and the route needs to go via Quaibrücke instead.

The Bottom Line

A roadshow is not 12 bookings. It's one operation with 12 moving parts. The investment bank, the IR team, and the TMC each handle their piece. Nobody handles the ground - and the ground is where the money is won or lost.

The ground transport budget is $18,000-$45,000. The cost of one missed meeting is $2.5 million. The ratio is 1:100. If you're spending $45,000 on cars and $0 on coordination, you're spending the wrong money.

GCS field deskWritten from the run sheet

Questions we get asked

Can't the investment bank handle ground logistics?: Banks book meetings, not cars. They'll arrange a car service in each city, but they don't plan routes, track traffic, issue run sheets, or coordinate between cities. The bank handles the investors. The desk handles the ground.
How early do you start planning a roadshow?: Ideally a week before. The desk identifies every venue, maps every route, sources drivers in each city, and builds the run sheet template. For last-minute roadshows, the desk can stand up in 48 hours - but the quality of route planning drops without the lead time.
What happens if a meeting runs over?: The desk monitors the schedule in real time. If a meeting runs 20 minutes long, the desk re-cuts the route to the next venue, notifies the driver, and adjusts the timing. The CFO doesn't call anyone. The desk handles it and sends an updated run sheet.
How do you handle multi-city car sourcing?: Through pre-held ground partners in each city. The desk doesn't cold-call a car service in Frankfurt at 10 PM. It activates a vetted, contracted partner who knows the standards. Same desk, same run sheet, same accountability - different city, different driver.
What's the difference between a roadshow run sheet and a regular travel itinerary?: An itinerary lists where you're going. A run sheet lists how you're getting there, who's driving you, what route they're taking, what time they're arriving, and what happens if something changes. An itinerary is a document. A run sheet is a plan.

Sources

The Strategic Guide to Corporate Roadshow Transportation in 2026, MexLimos, 2026 (citing PitchBook data: $2.5M+ cost per missed investor meeting). mexlimos.com
Investor Roadshow Transportation Guide, Detailed Drivers, 2026 (citing Dealogic 2025 IPO Report: average IPO roadshow visits 12 cities over 6 days, $18,000-$45,000 in ground transport). detaileddrivers.com
Non-Deal Roadshow Planning Guide for IR Teams, WeConvene, 2026. weconvene.com
GCS operational data, 2026. Roadshow coordination across 18 cities, one-desk protocol, run sheet framework.

Figures last checked: August 2026

The desk

Your CFO has 12 cities in 6 days and 84 potential failure points. How many of them are planned?

Book a free consultation. We'll map your next roadshow end-to-end and show you exactly where the ground layer is exposed.

Call +972 50-666-6444 Eran.globalcs@gmail.com

GCS deskAnswered day or night · 24/7Every way to reach us

Where this is run from

Roadshow & Investor Tour ManagementTwelve cities, six days, one run sheet and one number.Protocol & VIP HostingDelegations hosted to protocol, not to improvisation.Corporate & EventsBoard days, delegations and site visits run to the minute.