Faire, the online wholesale market, is eyeing a potential IPO in the next 12 months, after surviving the perils that come from pressure on Bay Area tech darlings to grow, grow, grow. “It was like the fog of war or the fog of crazy valuations, and the tech industry collectively losing its mind,” co-founder and CEO Max Rhodes tells Fortune . “We got a little addicted to vanity metrics to pump growth.” Now, Faire has re-engineered itself with a healthier business model for the long haul. Faire was mostly recently valued at $5.2 billion last November in a $100 million tender offer. That’s less than half its peak valuation of $12.6 billion in May 2022, when its heady rise attracted eager investors.