Having watched the success of Mastercard (NYSE: MA)'s initial public offering from afar, Visa has decided that it too wants a piece of the action.

Visa filed a preliminary prospectus with the SEC, a step toward raising $18.76 billion -- up sharply from the less than $10 billion the company was looking to raise back in November.

The company is looking to offer 406.6 million shares at $37 to $42 per share, with an option for the underwriters to buy an extra 40.6 million shares. If you missed out on Mastercard's run-up, the Visa IPO may look tempting. How should you begin your research on a company that isn't public yet?

It may not sound like a lot of fun, but I would start by skimming through the company's risk factors outlined in the prospectus. A lot of its boilerplate, but in the vast majority of IPOs gone bust, the problems that led to the stock's decline were there in black and white. The risk factors are also often a great way to learn about the business -- far better than the colorful promotional material.

For instance, Visa is currently facing a number of lawsuits and disclosed that it plans to deposit $3 billion of the IPO proceeds into an escrow account to cover these liabilities, which are described in the risk factors.