PETER GOLDSTEIN | from Emmis Capital and Exchange Listing

Peter Goldstein is the founder of Exchange Listing, LLC and Emmis Capital. With nearly four decades of entrepreneurial experience, Peter offers a wealth of knowledge on the journey companies take from private ownership to public trading on esteemed exchanges like Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

Peter's entrepreneurial journey began in his early twenties in the food sector. His first venture was a food distribution company in New York City, which he sold at the age of 30. This early experience set the stage for his career, where he has since facilitated the growth and public listing of numerous emerging companies.

Peter explains that the transition from a privately owned company to a publicly traded one involves a series of steps, including internal controls, financial reporting, audits, and meeting regulatory requirements. This process typically takes anywhere from 12 to 24 months.

He also highlights the role of entrepreneurial spirit in the success of a company. While financial performance and market acceptance are crucial, Peter believes that the vision, drive, and commitment of the company's leadership are equally important.

While going public provides enhanced liquidity and access to institutional investors, it also comes with its own set of challenges and risks. Alternatives like private equity financing, venture capital, and even crowdfunding are viable options, each with its own pros and cons.

We talk about companies that he has helped take to market, ranging from technology and AI to medical technology and financial services. His approach is to create a customized strategic roadmap for each company, considering their unique characteristics and market opportunities.

Peter is also the author of "The Entrepreneurs IPO," a practical guide for entrepreneurs considering an IPO. Written during the COVID-19 lockdown, the book aims to educate entrepreneurs about the IPO process and includes tips from industry professionals.

In a specail offer for listeners, Peter is happy to provide a free digital copy. Simply connect with him on LinkedIn, and ask for a copy of the book.

Listen to the full episode now and take the first step towards understanding the journey from private to public ownership.

TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS AFTER THIS BRIEF MESSAGE

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Chloe: Shares for beginners Phil Muscatello and Fin pods are authorised reps of Money Sherpa. The information in this podcast is general in nature and doesn't take into account your personal situation.

Peter Goldstein: These small little areas that are niche opportunities, any one of those three could be seen as niche as opposed to big, you know, large, proven businesses right now. But there's that old saying, phil. In niches, there are riches. And each one of those areas I like to look at and find a niche that we can work within that's going to bring, bring good out into the world while we're making Money at the same time.

Phil: G'day and welcome back to shares for beginners. I'm, um, Phil Muscatello. Why do companies want a list on the world's great stock exchanges and how do they do it? What does a business need to do to prepare for an IPO? In today's episode, I'm joined by Peter Goldstein to discuss the process. Hello, Peter.

Peter Goldstein: Hello, Phil. Great to be here with you and with the audience, and thanks for having me.

Phil: Peter is the founder of Exchange Listing, LLC, which is dedicated to facilitating growth companies listings on esteemed exchanges like the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. And also EMIs M Capital, a specialised boutique fund investing in global, small and microcap pre IPO growth companies. And he's also the author of the Entrepreneurs IPO, which we'll be talking about later in the interview. So, Peter, tell us about your career so far that led to this point in your life.

Peter Goldstein: Phil, it's been quite a journey. 61 now. I started my first company in my early twenties, so I've had close to, you know, four decades worth of entrepreneurial experience. I will have to say that I did not start with an intention of, you know, being an IPO advisor. And really in life, I think, you know, one opportunity led to another, which led to another. And I've always known I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but I didn't quite know exactly what business, in what form and what capacity. And I feel quite privileged to have worked hard to have great results in my life. I've also had many failures along the way and many lessons learned. And when I first began, I was in totally different industry. I was in the food industry. I began a food distribution company in New York City, and that was through the help of some great mentors and teachers in my life. And of course, I took the risk. At, uh, 24, it's much easier to take a risk, to start a business without any real formal training, without any real formal financial backing? Just my desire, you know, my willpower and my work ethic from there. I sold that business when I was 30. So that launched me into this entrepreneurial kind of, you know, world of growing, building and being, you know, kind of founder and driver of, uh, emerging company growth.

Phil: I think it's interesting, and especially talking to someone like you, that's got the entrepreneurial spirit and experience. I think a lot of people, when they're looking at companies on markets, uh, looking very much at the numbers behind them, whereas that's not the whole story and maybe it's only 20% of the story. How much do you think it requires entrepreneurial spirit to start a company and make it a success?

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, it would be hard to quantify that one, Phil. I think especially at different stages of inflection in the development or evolution of a company. Clearly in the beginning it's largely driven by the vision, the drive, the ambitions, which are typically more intrinsic in an entrepreneur. And then of course, there's the extrinsic part of being able to match up the vision and the drive and ideally, purpose of an entrepreneur with market acceptance. And so I like to really look at both of those. But to your point, when we're looking at companies that we want to invest in or that we want to even work with as an advisor, it's largely based on, let's call it the C suite. The CEO, the founder and the team that's organized around the management, the growth and the execution of that business. We look at it almost probably the reverse. Of course, fundamentals are key. You know, financial performance is key. Market acceptance, you know, market product fit. But really, for us, when we're working, we're picking, it's the jockey more than the horse, right? And then in a perfect world, you know, you have both. But it's much more important from my perspective to be working with the individual, you know, looking at their performance, looking at their integrity, looking at their vision. And then I come back to the c word. I come back to commitment almost every time, because these are not easy pathways as an entrepreneur, as an investor, as a stakeholder, to be able to navigate through changes that come about just by nature of being an entrepreneurial emerging growth company.

Phil: And there's many cases as well where the founder

00:05:00

Phil: doesn't end up being the long term CEO or manager of the company anyway because it gets to a certain stage and then different kinds of skill sets are required, aren't there?

Peter Goldstein: Well said. The same kind of approach to being a founder is not the same approach as to being a long term manager of growth. You look at yesterday's news, you know, with Starbucks, where they replaced the CEO, they took an industry performer who was with Chipotle, who had a track record of building and growing profitable enterprises. You know, so there's clearly just, uh, a large, well known, you know, differential there, which was handed over, you know, back and forth a few times by Howard Schultz, who was the founder. And so I like also the hunter farmer analogy. As a founder, you're typically very hunter oriented and want to go out and have that mindset where ate what you kill. Yes, for sure. And it just so really is, as the enterprise evolves, there are different skills, there are different aspects, and it takes really, for some, the founders, and I've done it, to be able to be very humble and self aware where your skills are, put your ego aside from being the founder, and nobody likes to think that they've got deficiencies or their baby isn't beautiful, but in reality, we all have our strengths. And then, you know, its ability to have a team around you that can complement your strengths and to be able to make sure that the organization is managed to produce the best results.

Phil: Okay, let's get back to basics, because this is a program for beginners, what is an IPO? And we will get into some more technical, difficult stuff in a moment as well. But, yeah, I'd like to bring back things to first principles.

Peter Goldstein: First principles are great, Phil. Agreed. And I think, simply stated, an IPO is the ability for a company to have their shares traded in the marketplace, where individuals can buy corporations and entities can buy a piece of common stock of the company, which then gives them ownership in the company. So it's a liquidity event, where it goes from a private company ownership into publicly traded shares. And the IPO is that initial public offering. So that's the first time that shares would be made available to the public to be able to buy and trade and sell in a marketplace.

Phil: So what do companies need or want to list on a stock exchange? I mean, it's something to do with capital. I understand that, but it can also be very difficult as well, because there's so many more regulations and requirements that are needed from a company than if they're just private.

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, Phil, it's a long journey. We work with emerging growth companies. So these are smaller to medium size. We don't work with unicorns of the world. You know, those are in a different sphere. And I think for your listeners to understand that there are different types of public companies. Right there is micro cap, small cap, mid cap, large cap. And so, you know, most of the discussions that I'm having, and we'll be, you know, kind of using as, uh, a reference point in our discussion today, is around micro cap and small cap. And to give the audience some understanding that micro cap is a $30 million valuation, uh, to basically about $100 million valuation to almost a billion, could be still small cap. So it's a very large universe of companies. And to transition from being privately owned to publicly traded are a series of really steps that the companies have to take. And that is by itself, a process typically is anywhere from 12, 18, 24 months of preparation, education and execution. And that's really no matter what industry you're in, no matter what size of company you are, you still have to go through the same steps. And preparation is really the key in anything that we do in life to be able to execute well. This is a combination of internal controls, systems, financial reporting, uh, audits, and then external working with a whole new community or a whole new ecosystem, if you will. You have to meet exchange requirements, you have to meet the SEC in the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission, financial auditors, corporate governance. There's, um, a complete migration that occurs during this timeline and process where the end result is that you meet the stock exchange listing analysis, both quantitative and qualitative. So it's a very unique process that really, I think, for your listeners, can also would benefit from understanding that the controls and the systems and the governance that are put into place create more transparency. So whether you're doing an IPO or whether you're an investor, or you're looking at stocks on the open market, understand that you want to be able to

00:10:00

Peter Goldstein: have a clear picture as to who a company is, what their performance is, what their financial activity looks like. And that all becomes clear during the timeline of going public and or clear at the time of being able to produce the information. So whether they're doing an IPO, a trade sale, a merger, an acquisition, or whether your listeners are just looking to invest, the more governance, the more transparency in their financial reporting, the better decisions that can be made by all parties to determine if it's a good fit for the needs and wants of the participants.

Phil: We talked about IPO as being a way of accessing capital as well. What are the alternatives to an IPO, to accessing capital? And what are the advantages of a company being publicly listed to gain access to that capital?

Peter Goldstein: Going public is exhilarating. I know myself, I've done it or I've gone to Nasdaq and rang the bella.

Phil: Uh, you've rung the bell, have you?

Peter Goldstein: I have, and it's exhilarating. So there's an aspect of many entrepreneurs that we work with that have that goal and that dream, that desire. See your name up on the billboard in Times Square and have a market flotation for your stock. It's also incredibly complex, it's chaotic, and there's a ton of risk. So the trade offs are clearly there. Alternatives, of course, would be traditional private equity financing. Venture capital financing of emergence lately is crowdfunding. Equity crowdfunding, and even debt can be done through crowdfunding placements. So there are certainly many alternatives to being able to get financing. Probably, uh, the least likely of those and most of the emerging growth companies is traditional debt or bank financing. That's the most difficult to access as an emerging growth company because the banks require security and stability that are usually less demonstrated in these types of companies. So it's an alternative and it's not for all. I would actually really have a direct conversation with anybody considering that, and happy to do that with any of the listeners, of course, but the risk component of bringing in outside capital from any group has its pros and its cons. Going public is almost like operating two businesses. So you have access to capital, both in debt and in equity. You have enhanced liquidity and you have another currency which then becomes your common stock. That common stock, of course, can be used for employee retention. Right. Stock option plans, for acquisitions. There are great benefits to not just attracting the capital, but to also have then the liquidity and the other currency in your stock. So there's alternatives out there in the market at this time. Phil, it's pretty interesting. In our complicated world, money is on the sidelines. All of the types of Money we mentioned, just due to the current geopolitical and economic challenges of the world. This is just an alternative to give some metrics to the listeners. In the first half of this year, there were 28 foreign ipos done in small cap and micro captain, over 60 in total in the market. And that raised about two point six, two point seven billion dollars. And so thats small in comparison to what could be looked at in the venture capital world or private equity. All of the markets are suppressed right now, at least in the US and I would imagine worldwide, in accessing capital. So where normally a median size of an IPO in my sector would be 15, $20 million, right now they're $8 million. Again, just to give some point of reference. So this is just an alternative way of accessing capital. One of the great benefits, aside from the things we've discussed so far, is the ongoing access to capital. So typically, if you're doing rounds of venture capital, private equity, you're stuck within those confines, within that structure, when you're publicly traded, you have access to institutional debt, institutional equity on an ongoing basis. So one of the reasons I'm a big advocate for this is that ability to access capital, especially when you're growing at a rapid rate and the credibility that you have with the requirements of meeting and maintaining a listing, give, uh, those institutional investors the ability with mandates to be able to invest into the company ongoingly.

Phil: And I'd presume as well that there'd be far more alternatives for capital management as well. When you've got common stock listed on.

Peter Goldstein: An exchange, no doubt, and then you can get into warrants, you can get into preferred stock, there's much more. Yes, an optionality, Phil. Right. And we'll keep it simple here. But inside of going

00:15:00

Peter Goldstein: to those different options, create financial instruments and financial structures that get very sophisticated, that also give you more optionality than you might have in a other ways. And one of the things as a founder that I loved about coin public was I didn't give up control. I was still responsible for the management, for the growth of the company, voting control even, and the ability to have almost the best of both worlds. Typically in a VC or a PE scenario, there's trade offs there. So no perfect answer in any of this for any entrepreneur. None of this is easy, Bill. Right. But it is really, I think, most importantly for any of the entrepreneurs listening to understand that this is an option that people think you need to be a, uh, unicorn. They think you need to have tons of experience, millions of dollars in revenue, and it's just not. So. There is access to capital as you're growing your company. Some great small companies, Home Depot, we can go through a list of them. Started off as small cap companies in the public market.

Phil: Many investors do like a, uh, founder led business as well. Is there any sweet spot in the amount of stock that the founders should keep to themselves, you know, a trade off with liquidity, as well as wanting to keep some sort of control in the company that they've given birth to?

Peter Goldstein: Yeah. And you can separate those two, right? Uh, you can separate voting control with the amount of ownership. And, you know, those are two very different things. In a public company, of course, you have a board, you're responsible to that board. Is there to oversee and to protect the interest of the shareholders. So it gets a little more complicated, but there are certainly mechanisms that founders can do to maintain control for a certain period of time, and then you have to kind of turn over the reins. But it is really, I think, separate from the amount of equity and ownership you have in a company. And I don't know that there's necessarily a sweet spot. A lot of that comes down to the valuation of the company. How many investors are in the capitalization structure currently, and how many would be in, uh, public ownership? And simple entrepreneurial rule 101 is, maintain as much as you possibly can. But there is no stated guidelines for that. I've had companies where founders were happy to have 20% as an example, where others felt they wanted to have control and have 51%. But that comes down to economics and capital and valuations and structure, which are all truly on a case by case situation.

Phil: Peter, can you share some companies that you've helped take to market?

Peter Goldstein: Well, uh, it's interesting, Phil. I just came back from Southeast Asia, and we met with some companies that we listed there out of Malaysia, and we're working with a number of companies right now that are in the process. This year has been a significantly slow year in the IPO world, and we're fairly selective about the companies that we're working with. We have two that are currently underway. Very, very diverse. You know, one is in the spirits category, so it has assets which are, uh, which is based upon us. Whiskey. Whiskey has been an improving asset class in all of its history. Very, very rare. So it's a unique company, and they're creating an exchange platform for whiskey commodities. So we look for very kind of entrepreneurial, innovative companies that are unique in their own right. Quite honestly, the variety of companies that we work with is part of what I love about what I do. Last year, as an example, we listed six different companies. Each one of those was in a different sector. So, technology, AI, medical technology, real estate, financial services. So what I'm able to do, and what makes me passionate about working with entrepreneurs, is we can work with companies anywhere in the world. The commonality is that they're listing on a us exchange. So we focus on Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, American. And those are kind of the entry level tier, if you will, to a us senior exchange. And that's what our focus is on. And so the stat that I shared with you earlier, 50% to 60% of the companies. And I think it's important for your listeners to understand were foreign. So foreign companies listing in the United States and so that you can work with companies anywhere in the world, they have to go through all the regulatory processes. And right now, because of the growth in Asia Pacific, we're working with companies there that are wanting to access the us capital markets. And why would they want to do that? They want to do that for capital access, higher valuations, stronger amount of liquidity. And of course, the real sweet spot is then for companies that are foreign, that want to get a brand recognition and maybe build market share in the.

Phil: US, does that become problematic? I mean, if you're

00:20:00

Phil: dealing with so many different companies from so many different sectors, like a biotech company, so, uh, different from an AI company, for example, runways to profitability can be maybe decades different. How do you sort of deal with that?

Peter Goldstein: You know, everyone is unique, even if companies are in the same sector, Phil. Right. There's no two I've ever met that are alike for all the unique characteristics, no different than us as human beings. So what I love to be able to do is analyze that. We create a strategic roadmap for those companies that's customized based upon their own unique characteristics. Like you said, their Runway, where they are in their evolution, their cycle, the market opportunities, the current status and the growth projections. And then look 1218, 24, 36 months out. And then with that we create a timeline, a set of milestones and deliverables, and then communicate that directly to the investor community. And I think one of the things that I've learned over the years that will help your listeners when they're looking at investing in companies or participating themselves in any type of flotation, uh, is really about understanding the financial metrics with a clear set of KPI's or a clear set of assumptions, let's say, of understanding how the company is generating its revenue, what the margins are, how those compare to industry sectors, common comparable companies, and where the cash flow sits. Because ultimately, I'm a believer that companies need to perform fundamentally. There are a lot of great examples in the markets that are, contrary to what I'm saying, that are technology companies that are worth billions of dollars, that have never made a dollar in profit. But I'm a, uh, big believer, even if that's the case, in understanding the specific metrics of the company compared to equal, comparable companies in the marketplace. So you're comparing apples to apples and then you can make decisions based upon that data. And of course, the data has a historical perspective and it has a forward looking perspective and it takes expertise to be able to distinguish where does the company sit? There are a lot of great professionals out there that can help understand valuations. But valuations, the way I like to look at it, are based upon the unique characteristics of the company in comparison to comparable market participants.

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Phil: So just looking on your website, there's a list of the kind of companies that you consider for listing, and the top of this list is emerging growth and industry. So you're not looking for mature industries, are you? You're looking for something pretty new?

Peter Goldstein: Well, you know, for us, yes. There's. Because I'm an entrepreneur by spirit and so I really like the dynamic of emerging growth. My particular business model is based upon taking equity in these companies. So, you know, if you think about it, for me, it's about where is my orientation from that perspective as an investor? And I'm much more interested and aligned with emerging growth and industry. The alternative to that is where it's a mature industry that's going through a transformation. So there are many examples like the logistics industry. One of the most successful ipos in 2024 was a logistics company that was working with frozen foods and cross warehousing and distribution. They did a very successful ipo and they transformed what is a mature industry with new technology, with new applications. And then in addition to that, you can take a mature industry and bolster it with mergers and acquisitions. So it's really a unique perspective from where my vantage point of looking at that whole lifecycle of different industries emerging up and coming, certainly there life science. We have a whole team dedicated to life science. Medical technology, the enhancements and growth in medtech over the past five and the coming probably decades, just phenomenal. And so technology in health technology and finance, certainly any catalytical kind of demonstratable growth is what we're looking for. And quite honestly, that's what the markets are looking for. The markets want to, from my vantage point, be able to participate in the growth and the return on investment that comes in, in the expansion that's happening with the inclusion of AI now, we know that that's just going to continue at a very rapid rate. And so the opportunities really are more in that side of

00:25:00

Peter Goldstein: emerging growth and industry than they are in the mature industry sectors.

Phil: I'm glad you brought up AI because I always want to make the point with AI people want to invest in aih, the way I'm seeing it, and um, I'm no expert here, but maybe you could help define this, is that AI is affecting every industry. And you just mentioned logistics, and of course you'd look at the dispatch side of a logistics business. I was just researching one last week, and all of that logistics work and dispatch and organizing, which truck is going to take which product, where is going to be transformed by artificial intelligence. Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox. But do you have any thoughts there?

Peter Goldstein: Well, uh, of course, Phil, right? It's like you have to be able to walk and talk AI these days, and jokingly. And politics, those are the two discussion points that seem to be coming up, and the weather. Those are the three that are recurring in my day to day calls I'm studying right now at INSEAD. It's considered one of the better business schools in the world. And we had a whole segment around AI and the implementation of AIH into organizations and into culture. And there's this big concern that AI is going to replace jobs and is going to change the workplace. And to some degree I believe that's true. But, uh, what I really believe is that it will enhance culture, society, workplace and outcome over time. The adoption and execution of AI is more important than just putting a label or a marker. It reminds me a little bit, when ESG first came out, everybody was popping on ESG into their marketing materials, but they really weren't going deep into any type of sustainability or social responsibility or environmental programs. Now, of course, the G in governance is overtaken the E and the S. With AI, it's always the first place I start, which is okay. You say you have, aihdem, uh, embedded in your company or your technology. How is it adopted, how is it executed? And I really am excited for mankind about what will occur. In your example. Just take the logistics, the efficiencies, the ability to scale up, uh, the way that products and services and technologies are delivered to the world. So that's a very, in our lifetime, probably the most exciting transformation, and we're only in its infancy, right? So, you know, it's a healthy discussion, one that I embrace. You know, I use AI on a daily basis. I work with companies that are utilizing AI, and I think it's all really about specific implementation and execution of technology, working to enhance and make higher levels of efficiency in everything that we do on a day to day basis.

Phil: On your list as well, you've got sustainability, EV's, and psychedelics, and I'm assuming we're not micro dosing here today, either.

Peter Goldstein: Of us, it's a safe assumption today.

Phil: It's a safe assumption for today. So, sustainability, EV's, and psychedelics. There's three things to talk about there. Lead us on that journey.

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, there are three things, all very, very different. Uh, and it goes back to our earlier discussion about the variety of opportunities that are in the world. Entrepreneurs are amazing people by nature. Just their curiosity and what that leads them to and their passions and their purpose. Uh, so I got very interested in just to pick one. In the psychedelic world, based upon the impact that it's having on mental health, there are a lot of people, Covid really brought out the amount of suffering in the world, and I've had people close to me suffering from different forms of challenges with their mental health. Psychedelics are impacting that. And so I personally am interested in supporting companies and entrepreneurs going through the process of bringing products and services and combined with technologies into the marketplace. There have been great studies. There was an early rush, like there was with cannabis that brought a lot of early adopters that were not necessarily able to be able to deliver on their promises. But the underlying benefits to, you know, mental health are very, very significant, and I think that it will come on in the same way that there's been evolution in, you know, modern health, wellness, and benefits on traditional medical. I think psychedelics and the applications of those are, uh, quite interesting. So that's just a little bit of a corner of the view and, you know, one that I'd say from anybody who's interested in investing to find something that they're passionate about, that they're really interested in, that has a purpose of a social responsibility. That's really what turns me on. Right. So I'm a capitalist at

00:30:00

Peter Goldstein: heart, Phil, and I'm sure many of you listers in there are where we love money and love the ability to make and access and have the benefits are provided and the privileges of having money, if you combine that with social good, where I see the interest and the crossover between socially responsible companies, companies that are doing good in the world for profit. So that also works with sustainability to some degree. It also works with the EV sector. You brought up all three of those. We're currently working with an EV company that is bringing m mobility and fleet charging out into the world. It's a game changer, really revolutionizing. Tesla got out of this business, and Elon has kind of pushed that out into, uh, other service providers to bring. I happen to be fortunate to be working with one that's bringing it on and just, you know, these small little areas that are niche opportunities, any one of those three could be seen as niche as opposed to big, you know, large, proven businesses right now. But there's that old saying, phil, and niches, there are riches. And each one of those areas I like to look at and find a niche that we can work within that's going to bring good out into the world while we're making Money at the same time.

Phil: So investors often get excited about ipos. People sort of think, okay, this is going to be the opportunity to get into the company. There's not going to be any other opportunity. Are there any dangers for inexperienced investors to watch out for?

Peter Goldstein: There really are. There are great pitfalls, especially in a volatile market like we're in now. The number of ipos that are below their issue price is much stronger than the ones that are above their issue price in this kind of a current market, where you're faced with market pressures, with short selling, with really valuations that are not yet supported in the open market. That's why there's a limited number of ipos this year, because of all of those challenges in the marketplace. But I begin with, so we invest pre IPo in companies. And one of the things that we've done, my fund is called Ms Capital. MS is Hebrew for the truth, or transparency. And so we work with companies before they're doing their IPO, and we have made that possible for high net worth investors to be able to participate in that. Typically, IPO investing was held for privileged institutional investors and a select group of, uh, investment banking clients and ultra high net worth individuals. That's changing quite a bit. With the changing and the opening of digital trading, there are opportunities now for individual investors to participate in ipos. So access is greater. We provide even more specialized access because we do the diligence and the vetting, and we know we have a pathway and protective financial structures that are secured that are senior in their way, that if the IPO doesn't perform, we still get our money in our return. As an example, we had a 40% gross return last year, provided 29% to the investors, which I'm super proud of. Most hedge funds are in single digits. And so how do we do that? Well, we hedge against the IPO in the open market, meaning we use a financial debt instrument, and that debt instrument gives us a yield, and then we have equity, additional compensation, if you will, in the way that we make our investments. Making that available to high net worth investors decreases the risk. And so that's an alternative to investing directly in an IPO. If listeners want to learn how to invest into an IPO, first know your company, do your homework, read the prospectus. You know, study their financials, study the marketplace, and look, every prospectus has a list of risk factors. Many of those risk factors are legal nomenclature and boilerplates, but a lot of them are very specific to the company. And so if become a student, if you will, of, uh, the investment that you want to make, and don't just buy into the hype. Don't buy into the excitement of something that you read, you heard a broker told you, or so on and so on. Really understand to protect yourself. And then, of course, you need access. So how does an individual investor get access? You can look at online platforms that are having syndication opportunities for ipos, or you can look to identify broker dealer firms that are participating. It's public information about underwriters that are participating in the ipos. You can open up an accounts with those underwriters, and then, of course, you would have to meet the criteria of being an accredited investor, typically, and as a credited investor and a client of those firms, you can ask for an allocation

00:35:00

Peter Goldstein: in an IPO. And all that is the mechanism that's required. And it gets fairly complicated. It takes a bit of knowledge, of course. I'm happy to fill the talk with any of your people can reach out to me if they want more information about it. But what's occurred in the last five years is more access to individual investors than there has ever been in the IPL market.

Phil: And it's something that I've noticed as well. Sometimes ipos, and I don't think they're the kind of ipos that you'd be involved with, but often it's a company that's been in a family for many, many years, and they want to unlock the value that they've created because they can't hand it on to heirs, and they just want to be able to get some money out of it to retire on, almost. This can be a danger, can't it?

Peter Goldstein: Well, it can.

Phil: It can be an opportunity. It can be both as well. I mean, that's both ways, isn't it? Yeah.

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, I think there's both sides of that. And, you know, listen, it's a form of a succession plan, so I'll take the benefit side. The benefit is that it's a form of a succession plan. It's a liquidity event. And it's interesting, in a family business, it used to be that you had son, uh, daughter, a line of family members that would be groomed and or the family would pick a CEO to be the successor. That's not often the case anymore, for a variety of reasons, I think, that are just evolution and part of just the current business climate. So I look at it as positive. We've worked with companies like this before, that they look at creating a liquidity event as a succession plan, and doesn't mean that they can take their money off the table like they would in a trade sale, or in an acquisition, or even potentially in a merger. But it is another form of a succession and a liquidity event. So it has its place. There are, like you said, pros and cons to that. But I think ultimately, that's where it's about understanding the unique individual characteristics of a company, the growth, the opportunities for return on investment, and where they're positioned, not just historically, but where the company would be positioned as it would enter into the future growth in the public markets.

Phil: So Peter, tell us about your book, the entrepreneurs IPO.

Peter Goldstein: Peter yeah, Phil, it was my Covid project. We all have our Covid stories, good and bad. And for me, I was in Europe. I split my time between Europe and the US, and I was living in Amsterdam at the time, and was isolated during lockdown and was conflicted with. I like to be really active. I like to be involved in a lot of different dynamics and different interests, and wanted to figure out what can I do during COVID to create something that would stimulate myself and provide value to others. And so I began writing my experience of what it is as an entrepreneur, to go through the IPo process with the goal to be able to educate entrepreneurs about what's possible and to be able to work within taking the intellectual properties, if you will, that I had in my mind and in my experience, and the challenge of putting those into written word. And what came out of that was a very practical guide with what I would say, actionable knowledge that entrepreneurs can glean if they ever want to consider an IPo, or certainly if they're undertaking an ipo. And what I decided to do, Phil, was to include my community inside of giving additional tips. So there's twelve chapters to the book. In the end of each chapter, I have two industry professionals that are giving their professional tips, and those include members of the Nasdaq, of the New York Stock Exchange, notable auditors, lawyers, investment bankers, who are part of an ecosystem that I built over the last 2025 years. And each one is a chapter and each individual professional is participating and giving knowledge and imparting that to help educate entrepreneurs as to what's possible in the world of, uh, bringing their company out through an IPo. So it's a bit of a passion project. Combined with the isolation of COVID and the outcome was the ability to put something together that also helps create a bit of personal legacy. You know, writing a book was something, uh, I think many of us have talked about, thought about, dreamed about. I decided to actually take action that, you know, where. I believe ultimately the book was an action oriented outcome that came during the.

Phil: Isolation of COVID and presumably to provide a legacy for what you've learned through your professional career.

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, and it was quite, you know, for me, on a personal level, very valuable. Again, I would support anybody listening to, you know, look to publish their own experiences, their own subject matter expertise, or combining those. I write regularly for Forbes. I write for entrepreneur. I publish, you know, very active on LinkedIn because I find the ability

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Peter Goldstein: to take thoughts, ideas, passions and purpose and put those into a written world helps, actually, in the context of, uh, the best way to learn is to teach, and the best way to teach is to make sure that you have the proper subject matter expertise. So it's really, for me, the combination of both that have been quite impactful, and I hope to be able to add, uh, value and benefit to others.

Phil: Peter, how can people find out more about you and the book? And obviously, LinkedIn is where you share a lot of your thoughts and learnings.

Peter Goldstein: Yeah, Phil, a couple of things. So LinkedIn is the easiest and best place to reach me. There's also lots of content there, but I want to offer to your listeners, if you're interested in the book, I'm happy to provide you for free, just a digital copy. So just connect with me on LinkedIn, ask for a copy of the book, and we'll be happy to provide that to you for any of the listeners, and in hopes that it brings value and provides some additional information for those that are considering an ipo or even investing in an ipo. And LinkedIn is also an ongoing place where you can get knowledge, I would say, market intelligence on what's happening from different perspectives. I also include a lot of information about self leadership, personal awareness, performance, well being, things that I'm passionate about and would love to have like minded people participate in.

Phil: We'll put all those links in the blog post and the episode notes. And, um, Peter, it's been a great conversation. Thank you very much for joining me today.

Peter Goldstein: Thanks for having me, Phil. It's my pleasure.

Chloe: Thanks for listening to shares for beginners. You can find more@sharesforbeginners.com if you enjoy listening, please take a moment to rate or review in your podcast player or tell a friend who might want to learn more about investing for their future.

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