We get calls all day, every day from companies that talk about ‚wanting‘ real corporate publicity that will transform their company but few have the stomach for what it really takes and even fewer have the financial dedication it takes to obliterate their competition and take their rightful place at the top of the food chain.
Becoming a publicly traded company is an exciting and rewarding experience. The following sets forth the method, steps, fees and estimated timetable to go public on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) ‚from scratch‘, or through a self-filing and discusses the 1934 Exchange Act responsibilities after a company’s registration statement has gone effective (after the company has become publicly traded):
Most companies who are on the venture capital trail are not set up properly to attract investors. When an investor looks at your business plan and private placement memorandum they are looking for certain things. Of course funding sources look for the obvious, a solid business model, positive cash flow, industry genre with solid future growth, recession proof business (if there even is such a thing) and minimal debt.
If you are trying to raise capital with a PPM or public entity like OTCBB you need to understand the mind of the investor. After the business plan sells the investor on the business concept you need to sell them on you and your executive staff. You need to stack your executive positions with professionals with a proven track record of success and possess a solid reputation in the industry. You must paint the picture for investors that your business is run by the who’s who in your industry and this pedigree is demonstrated by your education, degree, grades in college, professional organizations of which you have been and are currently a member, advisory board positions with other corporate organizations, a track record of setting up and maintaining strategic alliances, networking contacts and more.
Strange title I know but how else do you describe what is going on in the global finance scene. With the master weave of God and Country which equal patriotism and prosperity, what happens when it all collapses? Chaos! It would be great to believe that there are a few men in a locked room somewhere who were controlling this economic collapse and in just a matter of time they would flip a switch and it would all be ok again but none of us are nave enough to believe such a backwards conspiracy theory.
If you own or run a company that is trying to raise capital in the current economic conditions you’ve undoubtedly been challenged by the limited funds available. Investors are more difficult to find and the individuals that are actually willing to part with their cash are even tougher to find. You’ve talked to friends, family members, your cpa and your attorney but trying to get them to invest is like drawing blood from a stone, it’s just not happening.
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.
For many professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners the current reality of their inter company and inter industry promotion and prominence is a far cry from where they originally envisioned themselves to be. What is the factor that thrusts some people and companies forward in the professional sense and why are some straggling behind like desperate, obsolete room size computers in a hand held PC world?
If you own or run a company that is trying to raise capital in the current economic conditions you’ve undoubtedly been challenged by the limited funds available. Investors are more difficult to find and the individuals that are actually willing to part with their cash are even tougher to find. You’ve talked to friends, family members, your cpa and your attorney but trying to get them to invest is like drawing blood from a stone, it’s just not happening.
Global finance is a convergence of polar opposites. It’s a hybrid element that is the result of merging bankruptcy and profitability and the infusion of the ethically inclined and the ethically obscene.