Posts Tagged ‘take company public’

Discovering the ‘thumbscrews’ of investors is crucial to getting them to take action. In over a decade of dealing with global investors there are several elements that I’ve discovered to be universal truths about the mind of the private investor (angel investor, accredited investor).

When talking to an investor for the first time, it’s more important to listen than to speak. It’s more important to ask questions than answer them. It’s more important to discover their needs and wants than to exclaim your own. Your first conversation with an investor should be all about piercing the armor and finding the trigger points that prompt a reaction that gets to the center of their ‘childlike’ state.

What I mean by this is, investors, just like anyone else, has insecurities that are rooted in their childhood and what they are outwardly today, is typically a polar opposite of what they are on the inside. For example, an arrogant, chest beater seems proud and obnoxious on the outside but the reality is that they are over compensating for an insecurity that is rooted in an individual or collection of childhood incidents.

Maybe they were made fun of as a child, maybe they’re father was verbally abusive, maybe their teachers would single them out in class opening them up to playground mockery. When talking to these individuals it’s important to listen to their voice and intonation when the conversation topic changes. Take notes on their psychological adjustments to the conversation. After you feel you have discovered the triggers that induce the ‘pleasurable’ responses, end the call, and set your second phone appointment with them.

On that second call, you want to have your conversation ready to go using the triggers you found in the first conversation. Play off of those insecurities that you found, become their best friend without being chummy but it is your mission on this call to be the “guy that understand me” to the investor. You want the overall tone of this conversation to have the response from your target along the theme of, “wow, this guy gets me” , “I can see investing in this company”.

By using this method and not coming across as ‘fake’, you have become an investment opportunity and a shrink all rolled into one. You want to be the one person that this investor can lower his guard to because everything he says, you seem to be the one person who understands him at his deepest level. You seem to naturally be tuned into his insecurities, emotions, needs and wants. Sound strange? Try this out on the next investor you talk to, I guaranty you will be shocked with the results.

For Corporate Turnaround Services or Investor Finder Services, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Take Your Company Public: A Must Read Before You Do Anything! As a consultant in the business of structuring companies, setting up strategic alliances for clients, writing business plans and PPM’s and taking companies public on the OTCBB, I must admit I’ve seen my share of scams and swindling of uninformed clients. One sad issue that permeates the industry is clients who believe that their only option is to give up substantial equity while paying hefty fees to consultants who take your company public.

Here is the reality. When you are investigating the industry to find a consulting firm to work with to facilitate your ‘go public’ process, the first thing you need to do is make sure you are hiring a ‘turn-key’ solutions consulting group; meaning they need to offer everything soup to nuts in house because the second your consultant outsources anything, accountability is lost.

Next, on the issue of paying fees and also giving up equity, it should be either or, not both. If a company tells you that they want you to pay them in both upfront fees and in equity, you should laugh and walk away. In actuality the best deals for the client are those that are simply fee based, not equity based.

It’s better to pay 100k in a few easy installments than to pay millions in stock that will only be liquidated after the IPO which will completely obliterate your stock price and almost certainly ruin your company’s chances of success. It baffles me to see the scenarios that uninformed company owners accept. Currently there is a company that is promoting all over Google Adwords that they will take your company public for $25k and after a month of talking to the company, when you finally agree to use them they break the bad news that they are not going to charge you $25k or anything even close to that, they are, in fact, going to charge you $125k upfront, plus $10k to $20k for your initial SEC audit and on top of all of that they are going to take 30% of your company! It’s shocking but this group of consultants, because of their extensive advertising, has no problem bringing in clients and turning the tables on them at the last minute and sadly, because the client is uninformed, they accept the contract and pay the fees.

If you are going to give up any amount of equity in exchange for the process of going public, it should be with a licensed broker dealer and there should be zero out of pocket expenses from you. Your broker dealer should pay for the SEC audit, S-1 filing, SEC approval, FINRA approval, Symbol achievement and ongoing investor relations to keep your stock price solid. Unless your broker dealer is doing all of this, you need to find a new, full service broker.

Keep in mind, each consulting firm you talk to will give you a million reasons as to why their fee structure and process is the best but here are some comparable facts so that you can make the right decision on how to proceed. First of all, if you get an emotional consultant that acts like he is excited about your project and ‘can’t wait to get started’ this is bogus and you should walk away. The best consultants keep clients at arm’s length and never get emotional because it clouds the process and makes them ineffective. Besides, if they are acting so excited about your company it’s probably because they are trying to convince you of their legitimacy that won’t stand on its own merit.

Next you want to make sure that you are getting a quote on your specific company type which includes at a minimum: corporate structuring, strategic alliance facilitation, board of directors evaluation, business plan authoring built for IPO, investor finder service, SEC audit (the should be able to give you a general idea of the cost of the audit and have a company that you can use as most consultants don’t employ an auditor on staff), S-1 filing, SEC approval, FINRA approval, symbol achievement, market maker or broker dealer relationship/contract setup and investor relations for long term success.

For Corporate Consulting or Investor Finder Services, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Going public, the ultimate in the evolution of companies who are seeking access to powerful global finance options for rapid expansion, deepening corporate roots and gaining industry prominence as a true powerhouse and player. The process of going public is technical yet pretty straight forward: business plan, Private Placement Memorandum, Direct Public Offering, Financial Audit, S-1 filing, SEC comments phase, SEC approval, FINRA approval, symbol and then you’re public.

Never price shop for consultants that take companies public and be weary of consultants that will start off a conversation by answering questions geared toward price and giving you quotes without understanding your business first; without the proper information a realistic quote can’t be given anyway.

When you’ve found a consultant that you’re comfortable with you’ll need to get a solid understanding of their full range of services. Of course you’ll want a consulting firm that will handle all of the above for your company but you’ll also need to consider the post IPO services. What happens after you’re public? The reality is, selling off stock in a rapid fashion to raise capital is the last thing you want to do, instead you need to approach your consultant and market maker on how to cross collateralize your securities to raise equity loan capital.

This can be done easily and quickly if you’ve brought on the right group of advisers to expand your company to the global public. When considering the idea of taking your company public it’s important to note that there are many ways to raise capital after you are public without selling off chunks of your company (consult your financial advisers for more information).

Next, when deciding on a consultant they should also have solid investor relationships to assist your company in raising the capital necessary to go public. A true turn-key consultant will have a database of investors seasoned in the process of pre-IPO finance and will often times jump at the chance of investing in the PPM and DPO phase at a discount for companies that are in the process of going public as this almost guarantees that the investor will double or triple their initial investment when the company achieves public status.

Out of the hundreds of consulting firms that offer the ‘take your company public’ service, there are only a dozen or so that actually offer the complete full range of services needed to successfully accomplish public status in a way that maintains investor confidence and corporate longevity. Do your research and find a firm that is well seasoned in the turbulent waters of this industry.

Go Public With Your Company, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Many entrepreneurs and executives want to move forward with the process of going public merely for the ability to raise capital through the sale of stock. They usually don’t think of the strategies necessary to keep the momentum going such as how much equity to give up initially, how much equity to sell ongoing, how to capitalize off of the use of the securities as collateral for loans and lines of credit and so on.

One of the most profound strategies companies can use to retain company equity while capitalizing off of their public entity is to put up portions of their securities as temporary collateral for loans and to use securities to grow through acquisition of strategic alliances.

Stock should be looked at as cash and designated for appropriate purchasing strategies. Stock monetized through collateralized lending can work wonders as long as the exit strategy is in place and secure. Your attorney should be well versed in this activity and audit the contract for convertible aspects which could strip the transaction of its advantageous nature.

Debt that converts to equity means giving up a huge bartering chip for future transactions. Don’t give up equity unless you have to. There are scores of companies that will lend against your securities without having to give up long term equity. Use this strategy wisely and you’ll never have a problem getting capital.

Also, using stock to purchase strategic partners is more relevant now than ever. Purchasing a company with stock that can be monetized over time is an incredible way to grow through acquisition. Going public on the OTCBB is a quick and easy way to start using the countless capabilities for capitalization with a public entity. Going public simply to raise capital with your market maker or broker dealer would be selling yourself short. Take advantage of the countless ways your securities can work for you.

Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Structure your company should spearhead your capital raising initiative. Make sure that your corporate layout is conducive to creating and retaining investor and venture capitalist attention. You should have a solid and elite executive team composed of the best of the best that your industry has to offer and if you can’t attract those in the upper echelon of your business genre, you need to take an active approach to branding them as experts using on and offline PR campaigns labeling yourselves as industry experts who are innovating industry changing solutions. Create a stir, be controversial (but not offensive) and be ready to back up your stir with empirical evidence of your knowledge and success. You should have an advisory board and board of directors composed of industry specialists. Each individual should represent a forte that makes investors start to salivate when they are reading the bio section of your business plan. They should be able to contribute with contract negotiation, strong alliance introduction capabilities and more. When choosing professionals to fill the void of adviser and director positions you should think in terms of corporate ‘growth’ and ’stabilization’.

Next you want to make sure that your entity is prepared to receive debt and/or equity capital. You’ll need a solid business plan, don’t write it yourself, you’ll only hinder your ability to raise capital. Call a professional to write your strategic business plan. Next you’ll need a way to distribute equity or debt shares, a Private Placement Memorandum is the most common mechanism for helping companies raise capital quickly and easily while staying within the regulation guidelines of the SEC. Your PPM must be written by a professional to deliver the ultimate protection for your company while simultaneously spelling out the technical intricacies of your business to the investor.

Now that your company is structured properly, you have a business plan and a PPM, you are ready to start raising capital. Your first call should be to a corporate turnaround consultant with an arsenal of global funding contacts composed of all the necessary contacts such as: venture capital firms, private equity firms, angel investors, private investors, accredited investors, structured finance firms and so on. This turnaround consultant, if they are part of an established firm (always use a small boutique firm if you can find one, they are much more affective and one on one than the larger firms and tend to get the job done quicker without the headaches) they will have a service call and ‘Investor Finder’ service. They will reach into their gargantuan bag of contacts and give you so many funding options your head will spin, thus, making your fund raising efforts fast and painless.

Now that you achieved your first round of fund raising it’s time to get serious. Yes! It’s time to take your company public. Stay away from Pink Sheets and Reverse Mergers, you’ll only regret it. If you are a smaller business or a startup, your best bet is the OTCBB. Go back to your turnaround consultant and have them start putting you through the sec audit, sec registration, FINRA registration and Market Maker joint venture and S1 filing. They should be able to handle the entire ‘going public’ process for you and in 4 to 7 months, you’re public and trading.

Be sure to take advantage of the multitude of strategies to capitalize off of your securities. Remember there are many ways to capitalize off of your shares, selling shares through your market maker, continuously engaging in heavy PR to stabilize and enhance your stock price and another way that many entrepreneurs don’t consider as an option when raising capital, the almighty hedge lender will can lend your company money against your collateralized securities. Yes! Use your stock as security for financing. After you pay off the loan, line of credit or lease you get those shares back (be sure that your lawyer audits your contract with the lender to keep away from any convertible stock clauses). So now you are raising capital by selling stock as well as the ‘on demand’ loan or LOC concept of security backed lending.

Congratulations! You’ve just completed ‘Real’ corporate finance 101! Now get out there, put your company together and start raising the capital you need.

For Corporate Consulting or Investor Finder Services, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Your company is growing. Now you are ready to start raising serious capital and you here the public fund raising markets. Here are the basics of your S-1 filing. Know the lingo before you hire a consultant. Because companies must adhere strictly to SEC regulations, initial prospectuses are similar in their organization. Each S-1 generally consists of the following sections:

Front Section — An S-1 contains a small amount of information not available in a prospectus. In this first section, you can quickly find the issuing company’s phone number and get a vague sense of the future offering price.

Cover/Inside Cover — The prospectus cover outlines the general terms of the offering, including names of the underwriters, number of shares offered, and pricing information. The actual share price is absent from a prospectus until the day of the offering.

Prospectus Summary — Here you will find a brief synopsis of the company’s business and history, a modest discussion of the change in capitalization to occur as a result of the offering, and a useful summary of financial information covering the last five years, if available. If you are screening prospectuses for investment ideas, start here.

Risk Factors — After you have read a few prospectuses, you will become familiar with the “usual suspects” in this section, including “Possible Volatility of Stock,” “Limited History of operations,” “Dilution,” and “Dependence on Key Personnel.” Nevertheless, this section is a worthwhile read to be sure that you understand the challenges facing the company’s management. The discussion of competition can be sobering, but it can also provide a means to compare the value of the issuer against the financial performance and market valuation of its competitors.

Taking your company public should be an exciting and revitalizing time. Don’t take unnecessary risks, hire a consulting firm who can streamline this process and deliver the results you’ll need for success!

Need S-1 Filing Info? Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!