Starting something big? Build it with the tools of a public company.
For founders at the beginning, whether you incorporated last month or haven't yet. Public companies raise capital, attract talent and earn trust in ways private startups can't. We help you build that way from early on.
Is this you?
A good fit if you
- Are committed to building your company for years, not months
- Can name the people, partners or customers who'd take you more seriously if you were public
- Can raise money yourself, from your own network, with the right preparation
- Want to run your own raise, with an experienced guide beside you
- Are comfortable with transparency, public reporting and outside shareholders
Probably not a fit if you
- Want someone else to find your investors
- Are looking for a quick payday from selling shares
- Don't want to report publicly or answer to shareholders
- Aren't ready to commit time and money to building the company now
Why build with public company tools
Most startups spend years doing three things the hard way.
Raising money
Private investors can't see a price and can't sell for years, so they price in that risk, and you give up more of your company. A public company raises with a price, audited numbers and a market behind it. Access builds in stages: first the investors you find yourself, then investors who follow small public companies, then larger rounds on better terms as your record grows.
Attracting people
Early teams run on equity, and private startup equity is hard for anyone to value. Stock with a market price is something a senior hire, an industry veteran or a sought-after adviser can actually weigh. Consider Maxim Mortgage Corporation, Joel’s own financial services company. He started it with no experience in the industry and planned to take it public from the first day, because stock options would let him hire people he otherwise couldn’t. It had a listing and very little money, made its stock option plan its main recruiting tool, and in its first full year built a team of 120 people, closed $80 million in transactions and earned roughly $2.3 million in revenue. A private startup with that balance sheet doesn’t build that team.
Being taken seriously
Customers, partners and suppliers hesitate to depend on a young company they can't check. Audited financials and public filings let them check you without asking.
And later, when the business is ready, those same advantages make it easier to buy other companies, with your stock as one way to pay.
Honest expectations
Going public doesn't raise money by itself
You raise first, and that money funds the process.
The first year is the hardest
You'll spend real time and money before the structure starts paying you back.
Being public costs money every year
We size your raise to cover the listing and your first two to three years as a public company, so the business isn't carrying it alone.
Your shares aren't a quick payday
Being able to sell some takes years of results, not months.
How it works for a startup
Four steps, in order. Every step is optional and agreed in writing before it starts. You can stop after any step and owe nothing further.
Plan: The Four Levers Program
Every engagement starts here. Four one-to-one working sessions and a written playbook built around your company: a straight verdict on whether going public belongs in your plan now, later or never; which route and which market; your first raise, outlined; and a 90-day action list. About 30 days. $10,000, fixed, and nothing owed after. Read about the program.
Raise
If the plan calls for a raise, we prepare the company and coach you through it: entity and structure (if you haven’t incorporated yet, we set it up right from day one), cap table, founder agreements, financial records, governance, the offering, investor materials, data room, compliance and an outreach plan. Then you run a private placement from your own network, sized to your next milestone at a valuation you can support. $15,000, fixed, with 90 days of support, and only if we both think you're ready.
List
With the capital and shareholders in place, we manage the process of becoming a public company by whichever route fits, for most startups a direct listing on the OTC market, with the option to move up to a larger exchange later. We bring in and coordinate the auditors, securities lawyers and other specialists, and keep the whole sequence moving. A monthly fee plus equity, agreed in writing, so we do well only if you do.
Build
Once you're public, ongoing strategic advice whenever we're needed: acquisitions, hiring with stock, partnerships, capital strategy, investor communication, and moving up to a larger exchange when it makes sense. A monthly fee plus options. This is where most of the value gets created.
What it costs. Every engagement starts with The Four Levers Program: four one-to-one working sessions and a written playbook, about 30 days, $10,000 fixed, with nothing owed after. Most founders cover this from personal funds, and it can be treated as a loan to the company and repaid from the capital you raise. If the plan calls for a raise, Raise-Ready is $15,000, fixed, with 90 days of support. Listing, and the advisory work after it, are on a monthly fee plus equity, agreed in writing before each step starts. You can stop after any step and owe nothing further.
Third-party costs are additional and paid directly to those providers: accounting, audit, legal, stock exchange, transfer agent and filing fees. We'll estimate them once we've seen your financials. As a guide, they typically run:
- Direct listing:$300,000 to $500,000
- Reverse merger:$400,000 to $600,000
- IPO:$600,000 or more, before underwriting commissions
You don't need this money sitting in the bank. In almost every case, the private placement is structured so you and your team can raise capital from your personal and professional networks to cover these costs, often with growth capital on top, and sometimes capital for acquisitions too. Your own outlay is the plan and the preparation. The people who already know you pay for the rest.
If your raise falls short, you can stop there. You owe nothing further, and no equity has been issued to us.
Who you'd be working with
I'm Joel Arberman. In 1999 I took my own startup public with almost no money, writing the registration statement myself because nobody would help a company that small. Once our shares traded, a development firm took half its fee in stock, a PR agency took all of its fee in stock, a well-known venture capitalist joined our board for options, and we bought another company entirely with stock.
Before that I was an equity analyst in New York and, at 22, a partner at a 700-person investment bank. Over more than 30 years, across Wall Street, Bay Street and my own companies, I've taken 17 companies public, several of them my own and a dozen with no revenue. I'll tell you honestly whether this fits your company, and if it does, I'll be beside you for every step.
Questions founders ask
Can a company with no revenue go public?
Yes. Joel has taken a dozen pre-revenue companies public. Revenue isn't the gate. What matters more is the mindset of the founder and team, and whether you can raise the capital to fund the process.
We haven't incorporated yet. Is it too early?
No. Many founders we work with incorporate after our first conversation, which lets us set up the structure properly from the start. You can start with a business plan. The exception is a company whose only plan is to buy another business: that can be treated as a blank-check company under SEC Rule 419, which brings heavy restrictions.
How much will we need to raise?
Enough to cover the listing, your operating runway through it, and your first two to three years of being public. Depending on the route and your plans, that's usually several hundred thousand to a few million dollars. We size it with you in raise mode.
Will you introduce us to investors?
No. We have no investor list, we're not a broker-dealer, and we never contact investors on your behalf. You raise it yourself, from your own network. We prepare you and coach you through it.
How long does it take?
Raise mode typically runs about two months. If your raise takes longer, we continue in building mode until you're ready to list. A direct listing usually takes 9 to 10 months once the capital is in hand.
What if the raise falls short?
You can stop there. Your total cost is the plan and the preparation, $25,000 in fixed fees, you owe nothing further, and no equity has been issued to us. You keep a written playbook, an organized company, clean records and a far better understanding of how to raise next time.
Is this an IPO?
Usually not. Most startups list through a direct listing on the OTC market, which doesn't need an investment bank. An IPO depends on a bank agreeing to sell your shares, and few will for an early-stage company.
What does it cost me personally to start?
Starting the process costs about $10,000. The larger costs of going public are usually paid from the raise, not the founder's pocket.
What does a direct listing cost?
Third-party costs typically run $300,000 to $500,000, and they can be paid entirely from the pre-listing raise. See direct listing costs.
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Planning a private raise first? Take the 2-minute Raise-Ready Quiz from Prepared to Raise and see what to fix before you ask anyone for money. Take the Raise-Ready Quiz
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