April 2, 2025 • 39 mins
How does a business actually go public? You might think it’s all about the big, flashy moment—but the truth is, it’s the quiet work that sets you up for success long before that moment arrives.
In this episode of The Visionaries Show, Mohan and I talk with Peter Goldstein, an expert who’s seen it all when it comes to IPOs. He shares what it really takes to get your company ready, why having the right management team is crucial, and how the IPO process is more about years of planning than a one-time event.
Peter also talks about the 2025 IPO Summit, an event that can help entrepreneurs like you better understand the IPO process and get your business prepared.
Here’s what we cover:
- Why most entrepreneurs avoid thinking about going public (and how it’s holding them back)
- The game-changing role a solid management team plays in IPO success
- The timeline for planning an IPO (hint: it’s a lot longer than you think)
- What investors want to see from your company
- What the SEC does (and doesn’t do) during the IPO process
- Why marketing your stock is just as important as marketing your business
🎧 Hit play to hear how you can start preparing for your IPO and what you can do today to set yourself up for success down the line.
If you're ready to take the next step, learn more about Peter’s 2025 IPO Summit at theIPOsummit.com and use code IPOSUMMIT25 for a discount.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:16):
Welcome to the Visionary Show.
We are your hosts.
My name is Jen Crowe.
I'm the branding lead of Authority Fusion and my co-host.
Mohan Ananda I'm just an entrepreneur trying to others.
Thank you, Mohan.
Within the next 30 minutes, we will learn all about IPOs.
(00:37):
Mohan, this is the playground you're quite familiar with.
When you took Stamps.com public, what were your initial considerations?
Going public is really for liquidity events so that you can get the capital you need.
And I've taken four companies public.
each time, yeah, one on New York, NASDAQ two, New York exchange one, and London StockExchange in England.
(01:03):
So I think it's an event.
It helps people to raise needed capital.
And also, it get you a good brand.
a public company is, first of all, all public companies has a lot of disclosurerequirements.
SEC brings all the kind of accounting.
(01:24):
Everything has to be posted with them.
So that gives a very good brand.
So value goes up.
General.
that's a great start.
We will learn some more from our guest today.
He's a global business leader and a serial entrepreneur who's done several IPOs and hasbeen involved in some of them.
(01:45):
Welcome to our show, Peter Goldstein.
Great to see you Jen, Mohan.
Excited to be here with you both.
Hi Peter, welcome to our show.
How are you today, Peter?
outstanding.
Thank you.
It's another great day.
You know, it's a vibrant dynamic day to be here with you and to be sharing with thecommunity and hope to have a really, you know, exciting and value-driven conversation.
(02:13):
So not a lot of entrepreneurs are really considering going public.
Sure, there are many companies who do, but compared to the number of entrepreneurs in theUnited States alone, it's not something that's quite usual.
It feels like there's gatekeeping, although not done on purpose.
Would you tell us a story that would make it accessible even to the general public?
(02:35):
What is IPO?
Well, Jen, I think you're right.
Going public is not for everybody.
And, and, you know, as Mohan's experienced, there's a lot of work that goes into preparingfor an IPO.
And one of the considerations, I think for any entrepreneur is to look at their ownpathway to an exit strategy.
(02:59):
So an IPO is one of those paths, right?
There could be a
private equity sale, there could be a strategic buyer, could be mergers and acquisitions.
So there are a lot of different ways to create a liquidity event.
You know, from my perspective, I work in the small cap and micro cap.
And these are really interesting kind of innovative companies, Jen, that are accessing thecapital markets by going public earlier in their life cycle.
(03:27):
So one of the things that I love to talk about is that you don't need to be a unicorn.
in order to access Wall Street.
You can actually be an emerging growth company globally and enter into NASDAQ capitalmarkets or even the New York Stock Exchange American and that's not known by a lot of
entrepreneurs.
So it's actually more accessible to many than they realize.
(03:51):
Now there are good reasons to go public and some are very viable and you also have to bevery, very well educated and prepared in order to reach the capital markets.
Are there instances when they started into the process but did not go ahead or did notbecome successful at going public?
Like, just didn't happen.
(04:12):
I think there are two sides of that, Jen.
There are plenty of stories and situations where IPOs failed and they were not effective.
And I can give you some examples.
There's also a situation where, and like in today's market, where companies are filing forIPO confidentially, but they're waiting for market conditions to improve.
(04:34):
And they're, which really means they're waiting for more capital at a higher valuationthan they can currently access now.
So there's two sides of that.
And I think in today's market, the second one is much more active in the sense that thishas been a time where there's more money, both in private equity, venture capital,
institutional investing, sitting on the sidelines because the valuations and the liquidityare not what they have been in prior years.
(05:02):
2021 was one of the most robust IPO markets we've seen.
And here we are in 2025 with one of the lower IPO markets.
by total size of gross offering that we've experienced in quite some years.
Okay, let me get, Peter, you know, of course you're the expert.
(05:23):
I have done few.
However, from a, from an audience point of view, maybe you can kind of give an indication.
What are the listing requirements, various exchange, you know, needs so that somebody, aentrepreneur can think about going public.
(05:45):
Yeah, agreed, Mohan, that there are different sizes and stages that are appropriate.
And the listing requirements are very meaningful.
They're very similar with both Mastec and the New York Stock Exchange, so we'll go overthose without boring the audience and putting them to sleep with financial metrics and all
of the regulatory components.
(06:06):
I like to simply tell the story that there's two pathways.
One is quantitative, and the other is qualitative.
And so let's take the qualitative because that really talks more to the entrepreneur.
You need to really have a robust management team and that management team, as you know,Mohan, they have to be committed to going public.
(06:27):
This is not something you just experiment with, right?
It really takes a seasoned, committed management team that is ready to run in a sense, twodifferent businesses, the business that they're operating as well as the business of being
public.
And then there's all the board requirements, which most entrepreneurs don't have.
(06:47):
Most private companies don't have.
So that puts a layer of compliance and transparency where, and I'll tell you a storythere.
When I took my first company to NASDAQ, I had never had a formal board with any of mycompanies.
I started my first company in my twenties.
I had my first exit at 30, but I did that as a solo entrepreneur.
(07:08):
Now all of a sudden I have to be accountable to a board.
And it's a big transition for an entrepreneur and a CEO who's used to being decisive,moving quickly, being an innovator, to now all of a sudden have to slow down, right?
Mohan, I see you're smiling and get approval for the things that we would ordinarily dovery, very quickly, very efficiently and very effectively.
(07:32):
So inside of being a public company, you need to have an independent board.
and that has to be a majority of the board members.
usually in a five person board, you would have three of those who are independent.
And then those all have committees.
You have the audit committee, the compensation committee.
And so each one of those plays a very critical role in supporting the overall requirementsof being accountable to stakeholders.
(08:00):
So that's a bit about the qualitative.
The quantitative is really more about the financial metrics.
And without going into any great detail here, I like to give some ranges of value becausethat's the way that as an entrepreneur, think most people think about their business.
And so the kind of the minimum of a micro cap company is a 50, five zero million dollarmarket cap.
(08:25):
And a market cap, as we would define it is the number of shares times the value of thoseshares gives you a total market cap.
So starting off at $50 million.
moving up to 300 million is the range of a microcap, and then 300 million to a billiondollars is what they would consider a small cap.
So that gives some way to frame this, both quantitative and qualitative, and I would putthe audience to sleep if I went into all of the financial metrics, and we don't want to do
(08:55):
that.
It's a whole real world, but it's really, it's where what makes IPO so interesting.
And I think they're a mystery to most people.
But what makes them so interesting is there are so many variables and so many differentcomponents that you have to work on to order to have a successful IPO.
(09:18):
And then of course there's life afterwards, but we'll unravel that a little bit furthertogether.
follow up on that, let's say that I have a company which I'm thinking of taking public andsomebody comes to you and say that give me a roadmap.
What are the things I should do and how do I do it and what are the specific milestones Ishould so that I can make a determination whether I'm ready to go public.
(09:46):
So if you walk that through, that would be extremely helpful to many companies which arelooking at
whether or not this is the thing they should do.
Go ahead and kind of give us the role.
Wow, Mohan, you just gave me a softball to knock out of the park, right?
So I wrote a book called The Entrepreneur's IPO, and it actually says the insider'sroadmap to taking your company public.
(10:13):
And we'll make that available to your audience digitally for free.
I want everybody to have a copy of that.
And I wrote it, Mohan, with each step along the way, and then I brought in experts fromthe industry.
We have...
investment bankers, we have people from the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange giving tips inaddition to my experience and my research and what I wrote.
(10:36):
And the process is one that you start to frame it for entrepreneurs typically 24 to even36 months before you even get your listing.
so there's a, this is a long-term process and the most lengthy
item most companies don't have a full SEC qualified audit.
(10:59):
So they have to have a financial audit that's done under review with something called thePCAOB.
Again, very regulatory compliant.
And so the process begins with the planning, begins with a team of advisors, which is whatI do, but also lawyers and bankers and auditors and your board members and alignment
(11:21):
around the organization's pathway.
So anybody who's considering this realize that you're anywhere from 24 to 36 months is anormal planning.
On an accelerated plan, we've done it in as little as six months.
Not recommended.
My recommendation is you take a year plus to be able to go through the growing pains ofmoving and transitioning from a private company into a public company.
(11:53):
Can you describe to us a kind of company that checks all the boxes that you can say,you're ready to go public?
Well, know, it generally it's what's interesting is like I've worked with companies almostevery sector because I'm a generalist.
So, you know, this morning I just hung up with a real estate related company.
(12:15):
Of course, AI is a hot topic.
So we were in discussion with an AI related company that's a startup this morning, but Iam a generalist.
So I've worked with just about every industry, maybe with the exception of mining becauseit's a very capital intensive sector.
But, you know, when you look at that,
So when you say what's the perfect company, there are a lot of boxes to check on what's awinning IPO versus what may not be a winning IPO.
(12:41):
And nowadays I start very, very simply fundamentals.
Are you grow is the company, do they have a track record where there is clearunderstanding that there is a market acceptance and a need for them to grow inside of
their own company and then inside of a growth sector.
(13:02):
meaning it's an industry that has significant opportunities for expansion and growth.
They could be a niche player in that or they could be dominant market player in that.
So that's what we look for to start with is what investors want these days.
They'd like to see fundamental growth.
They'd like to see profitability.
(13:22):
They'd like to see a return on their investment.
And so the trends, as you know, come back and forth from different sectors.
The exceptions to that
would probably be life science, right, and biotechnology, where there's a longer path toregulatory approval.
We worked with a medical device company that was pre-revenue.
(13:43):
And that took, you know, basically the exception to what most investors are looking for,because it fits in a sector that those investors are used to fact that those companies
need regulatory approval in order to generate, you know, revenue.
That company serves children with pediatric stimulation for a neurological issue that wegot FDA approval for.
(14:11):
We brought them to New York Stock Exchange.
They're serving a community of about 10 million children.
There was no prior product on the market.
So those are the projects that, of course, that I look for that have a social impact aswell as a commercial impact.
Every investor has their own unique really characteristics of what they're looking forinside of an investment cycle and an investment thesis.
(14:37):
That's interesting.
I'll, Mohan is my co-host, but I'll ask him the same question.
You receive a lot of pitch decks, a lot of proposals.
How do you decide?
Have you ever chosen one besides Zoom car?
Have you considered social impact too?
(14:59):
Yeah, I think social impact is very important.
That's the only thing I do.
mean, only reason I'm doing entrepreneurship is to make a change to the humanity ingeneral, society in general, just wealth creation is important, but more than that
creation, you have to do something good.
So that's that's a requirement.
(15:21):
Would you like to add to what Peter said about growth trends as an important factor toconsider readiness for IPO?
I mean, the growth is very important.
The general difference between a private company and a public company.
Private companies do not require that kind of scrutiny.
(15:46):
You can do things.
I mean, as Peter said, in order to go public, you have to go and disclose everything tothe SEC, which means it has to be certified by independent auditors.
In addition to you have to have independent board members and things like that.
Whereas then there is a value.
(16:07):
The private companies generally the value of market value is a multiplier of EBITDA timesmaybe three to five or six.
Whereas a public company market value is same EBITDA multiplied by 10, 15, 20.
So there is this tremendous value creation.
going public.
(16:28):
So that's incentive for a of entrepreneurs to go public.
Maybe Peter can comment on it.
Of course, Mohan, what I love about what you're saying, and I truly believe that you canhave a socially responsible company and bring a bottom line return on investment and
growth, right?
And that's to me the perfect kind of fit where you find, then Janette, really was one ofyour questions.
(16:54):
Where do you check boxes?
But that's personal to us.
Mohan and I have similar values and we have similar goals inside of what we're doing atthis stage of our career and the stage of our lives.
And so of course there's value creation.
The primary reason a company is going to want to enter the capital markets is going to befor access to capital for liquidity, right?
(17:17):
For the increase in that valuation and to provide a return to their investors.
And the two things that then Mohan mentioned, one of them that I also like to look forliquidity is pretty obvious.
If you're going for the capital markets, you're seeking liquidity.
Mohan mentioned one that I think is one of the more underrated.
benefits of going public, is the brand visibility.
(17:39):
There's to me, there's no better way to give credibility and awareness and visibility toyour company than being public.
You know, I've been to bell ringings where, know, you have this great exposure from themedia and the press and you couldn't pay, you know, to have that done in a reasonable
amount of capital to give that value to an exposure, you know, to the brand.
(18:04):
So, you know, value creation comes in different forms.
As Mohan said, there is a tangible quantitative multiple that you get where you'reincreasing the value of your company.
There are intangibles, which I think could be often overlooked and maybe perhapsconsidered, you know, if you're a marketeer and you look at the soft value, the intangible
(18:27):
value that is really inherent in the brand awareness and credibility that you create.
for not just the company but for the brand itself.
I totally I just wanted to say that's exactly correct.
In addition to that, extending that people trust more company than a private companybecause you don't have a appropriate scrutiny.
(18:52):
Whereas here everything is disclosed.
So that's why the valuation goes up and people trust in a public company.
You know, if you're a public company, can have a better strategic relations with the
big companies or other companies because they know that everything will be done properly.
So that's immediately a grand creation.
(19:17):
What would disqualify a company?
know, growth trends check.
There seems to be some social impact there, but at end of the day, after all theassessments, after all is said and done, that's unlikely.
You're not ready to go public.
would be described such a situation?
And no need to mention a company if you've had that experience.
(19:39):
No, we'll keep names to protect the innocent here or the guilty.
But Jen, I love your question because what most people don't understand about an IPO isthe SEC has a role in the disclosure and in the regulatory requirements.
The SEC doesn't approve of a business plan, of a business model, of management's trackrecord, of management's consistent and performance and commitment.
(20:08):
So there's a big disconnect that just because you're doing an IPO doesn't mean that you'rea great company.
And there are inherent risks.
IPO investing and taking your own company public is filled with risk.
It's complex.
There are a lot of different components to it.
Investors who are investing and looking for access to IPOs need to understand just becausethe SEC has proved an effective registration.
(20:36):
and the underwriter who's raising that capital is bringing the investors to that IPO thatit's a good solid company.
Right?
So then you want to look more deeply into the management, into the industry, into thefinancials.
There's a whole aspect of being able to analyze and do diligence on a company that couldseparate it from being a good investment and a bad investment.
(21:02):
And so
you know good versus bad is is really in the way of seeking a return on your investment ifyou're looking solely from a financial perspective
I ain't getting after that.
Yeah, I can add to that actually, one of the important requirements are, I mean, people dowithout, the requirement is you need to have a director's and officer's insurance, DNO.
(21:30):
And in order to get DNO insurance, they go through the full search of the background ofthe various directors, make sure that there is nothing hidden.
So that itself gives some kind of a...
certification.
I mean it is expensive but that gives you little bit more credibility to the company.
So I just want to add.
(21:50):
Agreed Mohan, like you and I sit on boards and we know that you know our backgrounds aregoing to go through you know the regulatory review process to make sure that we're
suitable.
You also need expertise to sit on not just boards but on those committees right like I'mI've been the head of an audit committee and that is an even more enhanced role because
(22:12):
now you're interfacing with the auditors of the company and that is a very technical andcomplex
situation, right?
And so the committee is there as a responsible and the head of the committee has a certainlevel of expertise and background.
know, recently I was involved with a company where there was some, let's call themsophisticated financial applications that were used.
(22:39):
That's a big way of saying there were questions about how things were reported.
And so interfacing with the auditor and then with management,
We had to find a way to better disclose and describe so that investors and shareholderscould really understand what that means and how that impacts them.
So the board takes a really important role.
(23:02):
I've studied board governance at Harvard.
I've studied board governance at INSEAD.
Those are, in my opinion, two of the best business schools in the world.
And they take you through a very rigorous program.
to be able to get certified as a board member because it's a fiduciary responsibility toall of the stakeholders.
(23:23):
So you hold management accountable for their performance.
And so this is one of the layers that we could pull on this string, you know, and talk forhours.
Again, that's a pretty specialized area, but what Mohan's talking about with thebackgrounds and the credibility of your board members also to me then goes to suitability.
(23:43):
You want to make sure you pick
board members are going to add value.
They bring the right credentials, but they're there to help management to grow and providereturns to all the stakeholders.
Just to add to that, the functions of the board is really from a governance point of view,making sure everything is done right.
(24:04):
Whereas the management is to grow the company.
So that difference is there and that's where the public companies get the best boardmembers so that everything is done properly.
mean, Peter obviously knows that more than anybody, you can expand on that if you need to.
Well, think, know, Mohan, you're right on and it goes also to me where beyond theboardroom, it's a complicated world right now.
(24:32):
You know, take AI.
So there's a whole discussion now around how is AI impacting the role of boards and thecompanies, ethical and business-wise.
So, you know, a good board member, just like any good advisor, has a depth of knowledgeand experience that can be added into
(24:53):
the entire component of building a company.
Because building a company is complicated more and more so.
You geopolitical pressures, you got market pressures, there's competition coming, youtechnology advancements.
know, things are moving, in my opinion, faster than we've ever seen them, you know, in thebusiness cycle of a company.
(25:14):
Well, if things are moving faster in what, sure there's AI, but you mentioned earlier that2021 was a great year for IPOs and 2025 not so.
Where is this speed more leaning to?
I love the question Jen.
(25:36):
So if I had a crystal ball, you know, we could all probably retire and go sit on the beachsomewhere with Mohan
He's already sleeping by the beach.
Yeah, exactly.
we could we could, you know, find an island maybe Jen somewhere, but maybe close to thePhilippines.
Who knows?
I think that we're expecting.
(25:59):
my prediction with the new office and not to get into politics, but that there will be apickup in the second half of 2025 with the IPO market.
We're already seeing some leading indicators into that.
And it's a window that opens.
And Jen, it's much like you open the window and that fresh air and wind comes through, thesame thing happens in the markets.
(26:24):
And so there was all these companies that have been stacked up waiting for the window toopen.
And when it does, I believe we're going to have a huge rush into the market.
And then it gets into a much bigger discussion about, you prepared for that?
But as far as answering the question about the prediction,
many experts that I've talked to that are much smarter than me.
(26:47):
I'm a hard worker.
I'm a humble guy.
I don't have all of the knowledge.
Thankfully, I have great expert relationships that I can go to.
And one of those recently was the largest market maker in the world that we had adiscussion about what to expect in the IPO sector in the latter half.
And the indications are that they'll be close to double what they were in the prior year.
(27:13):
And already seeing some indicators of that.
The challenge to that and what's made this market in the last three years very, veryunpredictable is really more about economic and geopolitical issues that are not related
directly to the IPO market.
They're related to bigger world and economic and global issues.
(27:33):
Can you see the same thing, Mohan?
No, no, totally agree with No, it's much more than me.
I value his comments.
But let me ask once I go up a bit, what kind of aftermarket support one company shouldhave?
Yeah, that's literally, I think, about a million dollar question because it costs a lot ofmoney to maintain your public awareness.
(28:01):
because, Mohan, I work in smaller companies, as I know you do as well, but you've workedwith larger ones, one of the mistakes that entrepreneurs make, and I know I made, I took
my company to NASDAQ, I thought, okay, I'm good, I'm rich, I can retire, everything'sgood.
Unfortunately, here's the bad news.
It doesn't work that way.
(28:22):
No, but on, especially for a small company, nobody knows your stock.
Nobody knows your story.
Nobody knows your value proposition.
So we work with companies to prepare them to get their story, to start communicating in abigger, if you're going mid cap and large cap, Mohan, you know, you get research coverage,
you get analyst coverage, and then institutions over time will buy
(28:46):
based upon your performance and meeting the projections that management has made.
In smaller cap and micro cap, there really is not analyst and research coverage wide away.
So companies have to then look at retail.
Here's an interesting statistic for you.
Around 25 to 30 % of buying in the open market now is done by retail investors.
(29:13):
10 years ago, that didn't exist.
So what's happening is that retail investors around the world through trading platforms,through trading accounts, are able to get access to trading stock that they didn't have
before.
So we're seeing now much more of a focus on making sure that the company has prepared andeducated shareholders to take an interest in buying stock in their company.
(29:37):
And how do they do that?
It's marketing 101.
You have to create awareness.
You have to have a budget.
You have to create awareness.
You have to...
dictate a plan that's going to speak directly to that community of retail andinstitutional buyers.
That's like having a kind of a strategy for investor relations.
So you need to have some plan and continue to do the investor relations and build on it.
(30:04):
Is that a fair statement?
It is Mohan, very fair.
And I think people don't understand, know, marketing a stock would just be like you weremarketing a product, a service, a technology.
You have to invest deeply and it's expensive.
So it's another item on the budget.
(30:24):
And one of the things that I would say scares a lot of CEOs away from the public marketsis this topic, especially because they have to invest.
They have to have a special budget.
and they need to support the value of their stock.
And so it's really a, it's one of the complex areas about being a company that's publiclytraded, because you have pressure coming, not just on operating, but also on maintaining
(30:51):
your stock and the visibility and the awareness within the financial community.
Wow, those are very, very helpful insights.
You know, when I asked you earlier, how can you make the wisdom insights from going publicmore accessible to general public?
And I'm telling you, Mohan has taught me so many things about IPO, not that I'mconsidering it for our company, maybe not yet.
(31:14):
I don't know the answer to that.
But one thing I know is that this is something that as an entrepreneur, all entrepreneursshould have in their back pockets, right?
Like the knowledge on that.
after everything you said, I've learned a lot and it's so easy to understand.
But there are some more questions I have here, which I will ask later.
And maybe you can share during this event that you're doing in about a weeks, the 2025 IPOsummit.
(31:43):
Can you tell us more about it,
So Jen, now you're bringing up a subject near and dear to my heart.
And so as an entrepreneur, as a visionary, just as the title of this show, I wanted tocreate a unique event which we're hosting at NASDAQ.
And just going to NASDAQ for most entrepreneurs is a dream.
(32:08):
It was for me before I ever took my company public.
But this event is designed specifically for CEOs and founders and management teams thatwant to go public in the next 12, 24, 36 months.
And it's immersive day of knowledge from industry experts that we're curating.
(32:28):
So we're having companies who want to attend apply.
Not everybody gets in the room.
We have limited space.
And we're inviting top industry leaders to help educate.
those CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs.
And then of course, we're giving them market intelligence, you knowledge transfer, access,and one of all of our favorites is networking.
(32:51):
So at the end of the day, we're going to have a cocktail event at NASDAQ, which we'regoing to open up to the broader community.
And we're going to be inviting in entrepreneurs and industry leaders and investmentbankers and investors to have more of a social engagement.
after a pretty intense day of almost 10 hours of learning, followed by a very iconicexperience of going down to where they do the bell ringing, where we're going to have a
(33:19):
big group photo, and then they're going to put us, on the media tower outside of TimesSquare as a group celebrating the first IPO summit that we've done.
I saw Moa's family there.
I had the kind of privilege of being part of those type of events.
(33:42):
It's a good feeling and it's perfect.
Do they have to make any form of investment to be able to participate in this event?
So Jen, we're doing it online with a very small investment and we're doing it for, onlyhave 75 seats available.
So it's a very small investment if you think about the value that you're getting from aroom full of experts and professionals.
(34:07):
It's right now we're doing an early bird special.
It's $1,499.
They have to fly to New York or come to New York.
there's a, we wanted to make it accessible.
because my mission, much like Mohan's now is to give back to the community.
We're not making any money.
Jen, we really will be underwriting and covering our costs, but you can imagine the costof putting on an event at NASDAQ.
(34:32):
Right.
And we're going, you know, first class there.
There, we're not cutting any corners.
You know, we're going to include everything that you would want to be an environment.
And we just signed up an industry icon.
Who's going to kick off.
the ceremony with us his name is peter tuckman peter tuckman is considered the einstein ofwall street much more because of how it looks and maybe have that what he but he's been a
(34:56):
floor trader at the n y s c and is an icon he's the most celebrated floor trader in thehistory of the new york stock exchange and we got him to leave the floor of the n y s c to
come to nasdaq so will be filling the day he's starting it
and we'll have others there that are industry leaders, experts, entrepreneurs, much likeMo and who have gone through the journey, who can add value.
(35:22):
It's real.
It's not some sit in a classroom and get bombarded with information that's going to putyou to sleep.
We want to give practical, actionable knowledge and have it be an experience.
We all love experiences, Jen, right?
one way to wake them up bring bring a bell closer there is this is the sound of yourcompany going public wake up the moment they start falling asleep bring a belt close to
(35:49):
the ears gong of your company going public if you fall asleep this is not gonna happen
Good plan, Jen, I like it.
Actually, we just organized to have a faux bell ringing.
other words, it's a...
Maybe I gave a spoiler there.
Oops, I'm sorry.
(36:10):
Spoiler alert!
Okay, well, I suppose there's a website they can go to to apply
Yes, go to theiposummit.com and everything you need to know is there.
You can come to me on LinkedIn and if you have any questions, you can reach out to medirectly.
(36:33):
You know, I'm part of this community, Jen with you and Mohan, and so we want to make surethat we invite and treat people like they would be guests in our home should they want to
consider coming.
Well, that's a great invitation for only $1,499.
Just go to the theIPOSUMMIT.com or you can reach out directly to Peter.
(36:55):
will provide all his information in the transcript of this interview.
I'll turn this over to Mohan to wrap this up.
I just before we end, know that you're an expert in this space.
How would you distinguish entrepreneurialism versus entrepreneurship?
(37:16):
I'm Mohan.
You're talking my language again, right?
So, you know, it's really interesting because entrepreneurialism is not some, it's not aterm you hear a lot.
Yeah, Jen.
So, and it is separate and distinct.
So I like to think about entrepreneurialism as the mindset of a visionary entrepreneur whothen acts out.
(37:44):
and actually takes the steps to impart the necessary aspects of delivering product,service or technology.
But entrepreneurialism can occur in every one of us, where it's an innovative, thoughtfulmindset about being able to take risk for reward.
And then of course, entrepreneurship or entrepreneurism is about taking the steps andactions to fulfill upon.
(38:12):
creates legacies, one is actually doing it.
Love that, Moha.
Those are words of wisdom.
That's a perfect wrap.
Thank you.
It's wonderful to have you on the show.
I think we, I I learned a lot, and I'm sure our audience would have learned.
(38:34):
And those who are interested in thinking about going public should really do the homeworkand maybe even get to help them and see whether they can actually take the necessary steps
to reach the goal.
Thanks again.
Well done guys, thank you very much for having me.
(38:56):
thank you so much for your time, Peter.
We will see you again in the next episode of The Visionary Show.
I'm your host, Jen Crowe from Authority Fusion, and here's my co-host.
and then that it's simple entrepreneur.
Have a great day, everyone.
Welcome to the Visionary Show.
We are your hosts.
My name is Jen Crowe.
I'm the branding lead of Authority Fusion and my co-host.
Mohan Ananda I'm just an entrepreneur trying to others.
Thank you, Mohan.
Within the next 30 minutes, we will learn all about IPOs.
(00:37):
Mohan, this is the playground you're quite familiar with.
When you took Stamps.com public, what were your initial considerations?
Going public is really for liquidity events so that you can get the capital you need.
And I've taken four companies public.
each time, yeah, one on New York, NASDAQ two, New York exchange one, and London StockExchange in England.
(01:03):
So I think it's an event.
It helps people to raise needed capital.
And also, it get you a good brand.
a public company is, first of all, all public companies has a lot of disclosurerequirements.
SEC brings all the kind of accounting.
(01:24):
Everything has to be posted with them.
So that gives a very good brand.
So value goes up.
General.
that's a great start.
We will learn some more from our guest today.
He's a global business leader and a serial entrepreneur who's done several IPOs and hasbeen involved in some of them.
(01:45):
Welcome to our show, Peter Goldstein.
Great to see you Jen, Mohan.
Excited to be here with you both.
Hi Peter, welcome to our show.
How are you today, Peter?
outstanding.
Thank you.
It's another great day.
You know, it's a vibrant dynamic day to be here with you and to be sharing with thecommunity and hope to have a really, you know, exciting and value-driven conversation.
(02:13):
So not a lot of entrepreneurs are really considering going public.
Sure, there are many companies who do, but compared to the number of entrepreneurs in theUnited States alone, it's not something that's quite usual.
It feels like there's gatekeeping, although not done on purpose.
Would you tell us a story that would make it accessible even to the general public?
(02:35):
What is IPO?
Well, Jen, I think you're right.
Going public is not for everybody.
And, and, you know, as Mohan's experienced, there's a lot of work that goes into preparingfor an IPO.
And one of the considerations, I think for any entrepreneur is to look at their ownpathway to an exit strategy.
(02:59):
So an IPO is one of those paths, right?
There could be a
private equity sale, there could be a strategic buyer, could be mergers and acquisitions.
So there are a lot of different ways to create a liquidity event.
You know, from my perspective, I work in the small cap and micro cap.
And these are really interesting kind of innovative companies, Jen, that are accessing thecapital markets by going public earlier in their life cycle.
(03:27):
So one of the things that I love to talk about is that you don't need to be a unicorn.
in order to access Wall Street.
You can actually be an emerging growth company globally and enter into NASDAQ capitalmarkets or even the New York Stock Exchange American and that's not known by a lot of
entrepreneurs.
So it's actually more accessible to many than they realize.
(03:51):
Now there are good reasons to go public and some are very viable and you also have to bevery, very well educated and prepared in order to reach the capital markets.
Are there instances when they started into the process but did not go ahead or did notbecome successful at going public?
Like, just didn't happen.
(04:12):
I think there are two sides of that, Jen.
There are plenty of stories and situations where IPOs failed and they were not effective.
And I can give you some examples.
There's also a situation where, and like in today's market, where companies are filing forIPO confidentially, but they're waiting for market conditions to improve.
(04:34):
And they're, which really means they're waiting for more capital at a higher valuationthan they can currently access now.
So there's two sides of that.
And I think in today's market, the second one is much more active in the sense that thishas been a time where there's more money, both in private equity, venture capital,
institutional investing, sitting on the sidelines because the valuations and the liquidityare not what they have been in prior years.
(05:02):
2021 was one of the most robust IPO markets we've seen.
And here we are in 2025 with one of the lower IPO markets.
by total size of gross offering that we've experienced in quite some years.
Okay, let me get, Peter, you know, of course you're the expert.
(05:23):
I have done few.
However, from a, from an audience point of view, maybe you can kind of give an indication.
What are the listing requirements, various exchange, you know, needs so that somebody, aentrepreneur can think about going public.
(05:45):
Yeah, agreed, Mohan, that there are different sizes and stages that are appropriate.
And the listing requirements are very meaningful.
They're very similar with both Mastec and the New York Stock Exchange, so we'll go overthose without boring the audience and putting them to sleep with financial metrics and all
of the regulatory components.
(06:06):
I like to simply tell the story that there's two pathways.
One is quantitative, and the other is qualitative.
And so let's take the qualitative because that really talks more to the entrepreneur.
You need to really have a robust management team and that management team, as you know,Mohan, they have to be committed to going public.
(06:27):
This is not something you just experiment with, right?
It really takes a seasoned, committed management team that is ready to run in a sense, twodifferent businesses, the business that they're operating as well as the business of being
public.
And then there's all the board requirements, which most entrepreneurs don't have.
(06:47):
Most private companies don't have.
So that puts a layer of compliance and transparency where, and I'll tell you a storythere.
When I took my first company to NASDAQ, I had never had a formal board with any of mycompanies.
I started my first company in my twenties.
I had my first exit at 30, but I did that as a solo entrepreneur.
(07:08):
Now all of a sudden I have to be accountable to a board.
And it's a big transition for an entrepreneur and a CEO who's used to being decisive,moving quickly, being an innovator, to now all of a sudden have to slow down, right?
Mohan, I see you're smiling and get approval for the things that we would ordinarily dovery, very quickly, very efficiently and very effectively.
(07:32):
So inside of being a public company, you need to have an independent board.
and that has to be a majority of the board members.
usually in a five person board, you would have three of those who are independent.
And then those all have committees.
You have the audit committee, the compensation committee.
And so each one of those plays a very critical role in supporting the overall requirementsof being accountable to stakeholders.
(08:00):
So that's a bit about the qualitative.
The quantitative is really more about the financial metrics.
And without going into any great detail here, I like to give some ranges of value becausethat's the way that as an entrepreneur, think most people think about their business.
And so the kind of the minimum of a micro cap company is a 50, five zero million dollarmarket cap.
(08:25):
And a market cap, as we would define it is the number of shares times the value of thoseshares gives you a total market cap.
So starting off at $50 million.
moving up to 300 million is the range of a microcap, and then 300 million to a billiondollars is what they would consider a small cap.
So that gives some way to frame this, both quantitative and qualitative, and I would putthe audience to sleep if I went into all of the financial metrics, and we don't want to do
(08:55):
that.
It's a whole real world, but it's really, it's where what makes IPO so interesting.
And I think they're a mystery to most people.
But what makes them so interesting is there are so many variables and so many differentcomponents that you have to work on to order to have a successful IPO.
(09:18):
And then of course there's life afterwards, but we'll unravel that a little bit furthertogether.
follow up on that, let's say that I have a company which I'm thinking of taking public andsomebody comes to you and say that give me a roadmap.
What are the things I should do and how do I do it and what are the specific milestones Ishould so that I can make a determination whether I'm ready to go public.
(09:46):
So if you walk that through, that would be extremely helpful to many companies which arelooking at
whether or not this is the thing they should do.
Go ahead and kind of give us the role.
Wow, Mohan, you just gave me a softball to knock out of the park, right?
So I wrote a book called The Entrepreneur's IPO, and it actually says the insider'sroadmap to taking your company public.
(10:13):
And we'll make that available to your audience digitally for free.
I want everybody to have a copy of that.
And I wrote it, Mohan, with each step along the way, and then I brought in experts fromthe industry.
We have...
investment bankers, we have people from the NASDAQ, New York Stock Exchange giving tips inaddition to my experience and my research and what I wrote.
(10:36):
And the process is one that you start to frame it for entrepreneurs typically 24 to even36 months before you even get your listing.
so there's a, this is a long-term process and the most lengthy
item most companies don't have a full SEC qualified audit.
(10:59):
So they have to have a financial audit that's done under review with something called thePCAOB.
Again, very regulatory compliant.
And so the process begins with the planning, begins with a team of advisors, which is whatI do, but also lawyers and bankers and auditors and your board members and alignment
(11:21):
around the organization's pathway.
So anybody who's considering this realize that you're anywhere from 24 to 36 months is anormal planning.
On an accelerated plan, we've done it in as little as six months.
Not recommended.
My recommendation is you take a year plus to be able to go through the growing pains ofmoving and transitioning from a private company into a public company.
(11:53):
Can you describe to us a kind of company that checks all the boxes that you can say,you're ready to go public?
Well, know, it generally it's what's interesting is like I've worked with companies almostevery sector because I'm a generalist.
So, you know, this morning I just hung up with a real estate related company.
(12:15):
Of course, AI is a hot topic.
So we were in discussion with an AI related company that's a startup this morning, but Iam a generalist.
So I've worked with just about every industry, maybe with the exception of mining becauseit's a very capital intensive sector.
But, you know, when you look at that,
So when you say what's the perfect company, there are a lot of boxes to check on what's awinning IPO versus what may not be a winning IPO.
(12:41):
And nowadays I start very, very simply fundamentals.
Are you grow is the company, do they have a track record where there is clearunderstanding that there is a market acceptance and a need for them to grow inside of
their own company and then inside of a growth sector.
(13:02):
meaning it's an industry that has significant opportunities for expansion and growth.
They could be a niche player in that or they could be dominant market player in that.
So that's what we look for to start with is what investors want these days.
They'd like to see fundamental growth.
They'd like to see profitability.
(13:22):
They'd like to see a return on their investment.
And so the trends, as you know, come back and forth from different sectors.
The exceptions to that
would probably be life science, right, and biotechnology, where there's a longer path toregulatory approval.
We worked with a medical device company that was pre-revenue.
(13:43):
And that took, you know, basically the exception to what most investors are looking for,because it fits in a sector that those investors are used to fact that those companies
need regulatory approval in order to generate, you know, revenue.
That company serves children with pediatric stimulation for a neurological issue that wegot FDA approval for.
(14:11):
We brought them to New York Stock Exchange.
They're serving a community of about 10 million children.
There was no prior product on the market.
So those are the projects that, of course, that I look for that have a social impact aswell as a commercial impact.
Every investor has their own unique really characteristics of what they're looking forinside of an investment cycle and an investment thesis.
(14:37):
That's interesting.
I'll, Mohan is my co-host, but I'll ask him the same question.
You receive a lot of pitch decks, a lot of proposals.
How do you decide?
Have you ever chosen one besides Zoom car?
Have you considered social impact too?
(14:59):
Yeah, I think social impact is very important.
That's the only thing I do.
mean, only reason I'm doing entrepreneurship is to make a change to the humanity ingeneral, society in general, just wealth creation is important, but more than that
creation, you have to do something good.
So that's that's a requirement.
(15:21):
Would you like to add to what Peter said about growth trends as an important factor toconsider readiness for IPO?
I mean, the growth is very important.
The general difference between a private company and a public company.
Private companies do not require that kind of scrutiny.
(15:46):
You can do things.
I mean, as Peter said, in order to go public, you have to go and disclose everything tothe SEC, which means it has to be certified by independent auditors.
In addition to you have to have independent board members and things like that.
Whereas then there is a value.
(16:07):
The private companies generally the value of market value is a multiplier of EBITDA timesmaybe three to five or six.
Whereas a public company market value is same EBITDA multiplied by 10, 15, 20.
So there is this tremendous value creation.
going public.
(16:28):
So that's incentive for a of entrepreneurs to go public.
Maybe Peter can comment on it.
Of course, Mohan, what I love about what you're saying, and I truly believe that you canhave a socially responsible company and bring a bottom line return on investment and
growth, right?
And that's to me the perfect kind of fit where you find, then Janette, really was one ofyour questions.
(16:54):
Where do you check boxes?
But that's personal to us.
Mohan and I have similar values and we have similar goals inside of what we're doing atthis stage of our career and the stage of our lives.
And so of course there's value creation.
The primary reason a company is going to want to enter the capital markets is going to befor access to capital for liquidity, right?
(17:17):
For the increase in that valuation and to provide a return to their investors.
And the two things that then Mohan mentioned, one of them that I also like to look forliquidity is pretty obvious.
If you're going for the capital markets, you're seeking liquidity.
Mohan mentioned one that I think is one of the more underrated.
benefits of going public, is the brand visibility.
(17:39):
There's to me, there's no better way to give credibility and awareness and visibility toyour company than being public.
You know, I've been to bell ringings where, know, you have this great exposure from themedia and the press and you couldn't pay, you know, to have that done in a reasonable
amount of capital to give that value to an exposure, you know, to the brand.
(18:04):
So, you know, value creation comes in different forms.
As Mohan said, there is a tangible quantitative multiple that you get where you'reincreasing the value of your company.
There are intangibles, which I think could be often overlooked and maybe perhapsconsidered, you know, if you're a marketeer and you look at the soft value, the intangible
(18:27):
value that is really inherent in the brand awareness and credibility that you create.
for not just the company but for the brand itself.
I totally I just wanted to say that's exactly correct.
In addition to that, extending that people trust more company than a private companybecause you don't have a appropriate scrutiny.
(18:52):
Whereas here everything is disclosed.
So that's why the valuation goes up and people trust in a public company.
You know, if you're a public company, can have a better strategic relations with the
big companies or other companies because they know that everything will be done properly.
So that's immediately a grand creation.
(19:17):
What would disqualify a company?
know, growth trends check.
There seems to be some social impact there, but at end of the day, after all theassessments, after all is said and done, that's unlikely.
You're not ready to go public.
would be described such a situation?
And no need to mention a company if you've had that experience.
(19:39):
No, we'll keep names to protect the innocent here or the guilty.
But Jen, I love your question because what most people don't understand about an IPO isthe SEC has a role in the disclosure and in the regulatory requirements.
The SEC doesn't approve of a business plan, of a business model, of management's trackrecord, of management's consistent and performance and commitment.
(20:08):
So there's a big disconnect that just because you're doing an IPO doesn't mean that you'rea great company.
And there are inherent risks.
IPO investing and taking your own company public is filled with risk.
It's complex.
There are a lot of different components to it.
Investors who are investing and looking for access to IPOs need to understand just becausethe SEC has proved an effective registration.
(20:36):
and the underwriter who's raising that capital is bringing the investors to that IPO thatit's a good solid company.
Right?
So then you want to look more deeply into the management, into the industry, into thefinancials.
There's a whole aspect of being able to analyze and do diligence on a company that couldseparate it from being a good investment and a bad investment.
(21:02):
And so
you know good versus bad is is really in the way of seeking a return on your investment ifyou're looking solely from a financial perspective
I ain't getting after that.
Yeah, I can add to that actually, one of the important requirements are, I mean, people dowithout, the requirement is you need to have a director's and officer's insurance, DNO.
(21:30):
And in order to get DNO insurance, they go through the full search of the background ofthe various directors, make sure that there is nothing hidden.
So that itself gives some kind of a...
certification.
I mean it is expensive but that gives you little bit more credibility to the company.
So I just want to add.
(21:50):
Agreed Mohan, like you and I sit on boards and we know that you know our backgrounds aregoing to go through you know the regulatory review process to make sure that we're
suitable.
You also need expertise to sit on not just boards but on those committees right like I'mI've been the head of an audit committee and that is an even more enhanced role because
(22:12):
now you're interfacing with the auditors of the company and that is a very technical andcomplex
situation, right?
And so the committee is there as a responsible and the head of the committee has a certainlevel of expertise and background.
know, recently I was involved with a company where there was some, let's call themsophisticated financial applications that were used.
(22:39):
That's a big way of saying there were questions about how things were reported.
And so interfacing with the auditor and then with management,
We had to find a way to better disclose and describe so that investors and shareholderscould really understand what that means and how that impacts them.
So the board takes a really important role.
(23:02):
I've studied board governance at Harvard.
I've studied board governance at INSEAD.
Those are, in my opinion, two of the best business schools in the world.
And they take you through a very rigorous program.
to be able to get certified as a board member because it's a fiduciary responsibility toall of the stakeholders.
(23:23):
So you hold management accountable for their performance.
And so this is one of the layers that we could pull on this string, you know, and talk forhours.
Again, that's a pretty specialized area, but what Mohan's talking about with thebackgrounds and the credibility of your board members also to me then goes to suitability.
(23:43):
You want to make sure you pick
board members are going to add value.
They bring the right credentials, but they're there to help management to grow and providereturns to all the stakeholders.
Just to add to that, the functions of the board is really from a governance point of view,making sure everything is done right.
(24:04):
Whereas the management is to grow the company.
So that difference is there and that's where the public companies get the best boardmembers so that everything is done properly.
mean, Peter obviously knows that more than anybody, you can expand on that if you need to.
Well, think, know, Mohan, you're right on and it goes also to me where beyond theboardroom, it's a complicated world right now.
(24:32):
You know, take AI.
So there's a whole discussion now around how is AI impacting the role of boards and thecompanies, ethical and business-wise.
So, you know, a good board member, just like any good advisor, has a depth of knowledgeand experience that can be added into
(24:53):
the entire component of building a company.
Because building a company is complicated more and more so.
You geopolitical pressures, you got market pressures, there's competition coming, youtechnology advancements.
know, things are moving, in my opinion, faster than we've ever seen them, you know, in thebusiness cycle of a company.
(25:14):
Well, if things are moving faster in what, sure there's AI, but you mentioned earlier that2021 was a great year for IPOs and 2025 not so.
Where is this speed more leaning to?
I love the question Jen.
(25:36):
So if I had a crystal ball, you know, we could all probably retire and go sit on the beachsomewhere with Mohan
He's already sleeping by the beach.
Yeah, exactly.
we could we could, you know, find an island maybe Jen somewhere, but maybe close to thePhilippines.
Who knows?
I think that we're expecting.
(25:59):
my prediction with the new office and not to get into politics, but that there will be apickup in the second half of 2025 with the IPO market.
We're already seeing some leading indicators into that.
And it's a window that opens.
And Jen, it's much like you open the window and that fresh air and wind comes through, thesame thing happens in the markets.
(26:24):
And so there was all these companies that have been stacked up waiting for the window toopen.
And when it does, I believe we're going to have a huge rush into the market.
And then it gets into a much bigger discussion about, you prepared for that?
But as far as answering the question about the prediction,
many experts that I've talked to that are much smarter than me.
(26:47):
I'm a hard worker.
I'm a humble guy.
I don't have all of the knowledge.
Thankfully, I have great expert relationships that I can go to.
And one of those recently was the largest market maker in the world that we had adiscussion about what to expect in the IPO sector in the latter half.
And the indications are that they'll be close to double what they were in the prior year.
(27:13):
And already seeing some indicators of that.
The challenge to that and what's made this market in the last three years very, veryunpredictable is really more about economic and geopolitical issues that are not related
directly to the IPO market.
They're related to bigger world and economic and global issues.
(27:33):
Can you see the same thing, Mohan?
No, no, totally agree with No, it's much more than me.
I value his comments.
But let me ask once I go up a bit, what kind of aftermarket support one company shouldhave?
Yeah, that's literally, I think, about a million dollar question because it costs a lot ofmoney to maintain your public awareness.
(28:01):
because, Mohan, I work in smaller companies, as I know you do as well, but you've workedwith larger ones, one of the mistakes that entrepreneurs make, and I know I made, I took
my company to NASDAQ, I thought, okay, I'm good, I'm rich, I can retire, everything'sgood.
Unfortunately, here's the bad news.
It doesn't work that way.
(28:22):
No, but on, especially for a small company, nobody knows your stock.
Nobody knows your story.
Nobody knows your value proposition.
So we work with companies to prepare them to get their story, to start communicating in abigger, if you're going mid cap and large cap, Mohan, you know, you get research coverage,
you get analyst coverage, and then institutions over time will buy
(28:46):
based upon your performance and meeting the projections that management has made.
In smaller cap and micro cap, there really is not analyst and research coverage wide away.
So companies have to then look at retail.
Here's an interesting statistic for you.
Around 25 to 30 % of buying in the open market now is done by retail investors.
(29:13):
10 years ago, that didn't exist.
So what's happening is that retail investors around the world through trading platforms,through trading accounts, are able to get access to trading stock that they didn't have
before.
So we're seeing now much more of a focus on making sure that the company has prepared andeducated shareholders to take an interest in buying stock in their company.
(29:37):
And how do they do that?
It's marketing 101.
You have to create awareness.
You have to have a budget.
You have to create awareness.
You have to...
dictate a plan that's going to speak directly to that community of retail andinstitutional buyers.
That's like having a kind of a strategy for investor relations.
So you need to have some plan and continue to do the investor relations and build on it.
(30:04):
Is that a fair statement?
It is Mohan, very fair.
And I think people don't understand, know, marketing a stock would just be like you weremarketing a product, a service, a technology.
You have to invest deeply and it's expensive.
So it's another item on the budget.
(30:24):
And one of the things that I would say scares a lot of CEOs away from the public marketsis this topic, especially because they have to invest.
They have to have a special budget.
and they need to support the value of their stock.
And so it's really a, it's one of the complex areas about being a company that's publiclytraded, because you have pressure coming, not just on operating, but also on maintaining
(30:51):
your stock and the visibility and the awareness within the financial community.
Wow, those are very, very helpful insights.
You know, when I asked you earlier, how can you make the wisdom insights from going publicmore accessible to general public?
And I'm telling you, Mohan has taught me so many things about IPO, not that I'mconsidering it for our company, maybe not yet.
(31:14):
I don't know the answer to that.
But one thing I know is that this is something that as an entrepreneur, all entrepreneursshould have in their back pockets, right?
Like the knowledge on that.
after everything you said, I've learned a lot and it's so easy to understand.
But there are some more questions I have here, which I will ask later.
And maybe you can share during this event that you're doing in about a weeks, the 2025 IPOsummit.
(31:43):
Can you tell us more about it,
So Jen, now you're bringing up a subject near and dear to my heart.
And so as an entrepreneur, as a visionary, just as the title of this show, I wanted tocreate a unique event which we're hosting at NASDAQ.
And just going to NASDAQ for most entrepreneurs is a dream.
(32:08):
It was for me before I ever took my company public.
But this event is designed specifically for CEOs and founders and management teams thatwant to go public in the next 12, 24, 36 months.
And it's immersive day of knowledge from industry experts that we're curating.
(32:28):
So we're having companies who want to attend apply.
Not everybody gets in the room.
We have limited space.
And we're inviting top industry leaders to help educate.
those CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs.
And then of course, we're giving them market intelligence, you knowledge transfer, access,and one of all of our favorites is networking.
(32:51):
So at the end of the day, we're going to have a cocktail event at NASDAQ, which we'regoing to open up to the broader community.
And we're going to be inviting in entrepreneurs and industry leaders and investmentbankers and investors to have more of a social engagement.
after a pretty intense day of almost 10 hours of learning, followed by a very iconicexperience of going down to where they do the bell ringing, where we're going to have a
(33:19):
big group photo, and then they're going to put us, on the media tower outside of TimesSquare as a group celebrating the first IPO summit that we've done.
I saw Moa's family there.
I had the kind of privilege of being part of those type of events.
(33:42):
It's a good feeling and it's perfect.
Do they have to make any form of investment to be able to participate in this event?
So Jen, we're doing it online with a very small investment and we're doing it for, onlyhave 75 seats available.
So it's a very small investment if you think about the value that you're getting from aroom full of experts and professionals.
(34:07):
It's right now we're doing an early bird special.
It's $1,499.
They have to fly to New York or come to New York.
there's a, we wanted to make it accessible.
because my mission, much like Mohan's now is to give back to the community.
We're not making any money.
Jen, we really will be underwriting and covering our costs, but you can imagine the costof putting on an event at NASDAQ.
(34:32):
Right.
And we're going, you know, first class there.
There, we're not cutting any corners.
You know, we're going to include everything that you would want to be an environment.
And we just signed up an industry icon.
Who's going to kick off.
the ceremony with us his name is peter tuckman peter tuckman is considered the einstein ofwall street much more because of how it looks and maybe have that what he but he's been a
(34:56):
floor trader at the n y s c and is an icon he's the most celebrated floor trader in thehistory of the new york stock exchange and we got him to leave the floor of the n y s c to
come to nasdaq so will be filling the day he's starting it
and we'll have others there that are industry leaders, experts, entrepreneurs, much likeMo and who have gone through the journey, who can add value.
(35:22):
It's real.
It's not some sit in a classroom and get bombarded with information that's going to putyou to sleep.
We want to give practical, actionable knowledge and have it be an experience.
We all love experiences, Jen, right?
one way to wake them up bring bring a bell closer there is this is the sound of yourcompany going public wake up the moment they start falling asleep bring a belt close to
(35:49):
the ears gong of your company going public if you fall asleep this is not gonna happen
Good plan, Jen, I like it.
Actually, we just organized to have a faux bell ringing.
other words, it's a...
Maybe I gave a spoiler there.
Oops, I'm sorry.
(36:10):
Spoiler alert!
Okay, well, I suppose there's a website they can go to to apply
Yes, go to theiposummit.com and everything you need to know is there.
You can come to me on LinkedIn and if you have any questions, you can reach out to medirectly.
(36:33):
You know, I'm part of this community, Jen with you and Mohan, and so we want to make surethat we invite and treat people like they would be guests in our home should they want to
consider coming.
Well, that's a great invitation for only $1,499.
Just go to the theIPOSUMMIT.com or you can reach out directly to Peter.
(36:55):
will provide all his information in the transcript of this interview.
I'll turn this over to Mohan to wrap this up.
I just before we end, know that you're an expert in this space.
How would you distinguish entrepreneurialism versus entrepreneurship?
(37:16):
I'm Mohan.
You're talking my language again, right?
So, you know, it's really interesting because entrepreneurialism is not some, it's not aterm you hear a lot.
Yeah, Jen.
So, and it is separate and distinct.
So I like to think about entrepreneurialism as the mindset of a visionary entrepreneur whothen acts out.
(37:44):
and actually takes the steps to impart the necessary aspects of delivering product,service or technology.
But entrepreneurialism can occur in every one of us, where it's an innovative, thoughtfulmindset about being able to take risk for reward.
And then of course, entrepreneurship or entrepreneurism is about taking the steps andactions to fulfill upon.
(38:12):
creates legacies, one is actually doing it.
Love that, Moha.
Those are words of wisdom.
That's a perfect wrap.
Thank you.
It's wonderful to have you on the show.
I think we, I I learned a lot, and I'm sure our audience would have learned.
(38:34):
And those who are interested in thinking about going public should really do the homeworkand maybe even get to help them and see whether they can actually take the necessary steps
to reach the goal.
Thanks again.
Well done guys, thank you very much for having me.
(38:56):
thank you so much for your time, Peter.
We will see you again in the next episode of The Visionary Show.
I'm your host, Jen Crowe from Authority Fusion, and here's my co-host.
and then that it's simple entrepreneur.
Have a great day, everyone.
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