Meraki Partners, LLC
This is for CEOs who want to build a larger and more valuable business. The best candidates are CEOs who are smart, growth-minded and likeable, who run a business that is already profitable. However, we can represent any size company when there are strong mitigating factors.
We plan and manage every aspect of the direct listing, reverse merger or IPO process, but we also provide strategic advice on matters relating to business growth, acquisitions, financing, communications, and more.
Our founder is Joel Arberman. Joel was an analyst for two multi-billion-dollar asset management firms, a top-ranked technology analyst, and partner of a large investment banking firm. He has taken four of his early-stage companies public, has facilitated numerous acquisitions and has helped more than a dozen companies go public. His clients have gained more than $11 billion in valuation.
Taking your company public is not the goal, it's a tool. Think of it as the best growth-hack ever. Go public to use shares, options and warrants to significantly scale your business. Here's a few ways to use a public listing to build a significantly more valuable business:
Acquire profitable private companies.
Going public to acquire private companies that are already profitable is the fastest and most reliable way to build a large and valuable business. As a public company, it is easier to source more acquisition opportunities, structure better favorable transaction terms, raise capital to finance the purchase and growth of acquired businesses, and easier to attract the best talent.
Attract, motivate and reward results.
As a public company, it is easier to attract, motivate and reward people through the use of stock options and warrants. This is particularly valuable for industries that rely on building a large independent or commissioned sales force, or for industries where there's strong competition for talent. In addition to the use of stock options for employees, the use of warrants can be extremely valuable when issued as part of a growth strategy to sales, marketing, distribution and business development partners.
Raise capital more efficiently.
When a company has a clear path and timeline to go public by direct listing, reverse merger or IPO, it is faster, easier and less dilutive to raise capital. After a company is publicly traded, it is even faster, easier and less dilutive to raise capital from a larger audience of public debt and equity investors who have interest in wider array of investment structures.
These are some tangible benefits and results achieved by companies we've worked with:
- CDbeat raised about $400,000 in a pre-seed round to launch the business and cover the costs of going public on a junior exchange. The entrepreneur used common shares to pay for half of their software development costs, used common shares to hire a public relations firm, used stock options to recruit an industry thought leader, used stock options to reward the general partner of a venture capital firm to join the board, used shares to acquire a company with $4+ million in revenue and used shares to raise $5 million.
- Maxim Mortgage Corporation raised about $400,000 in a pre-seed round to launch the business and cover the costs of going public on a junior exchange. The entrepreneur used common shares and stock options to recruit 100+ salespeople, which led to $80 million in transaction volume and generated $2.3 million in revenues per year. Later, the company used stock to enter into a partnership with a private equity firm that culminated in a large acquisition.
- SMTP had about $1.5 million in revenue and $75,000 in profit. The entrepreneur issued shares to raise $100,000 at a $3.5 million valuation to qualify for trading. The company started trading on a junior exchange, used cash, shares and options to acquire three startups, used options to recruit top talent, uplisted to NASDAQ, used shares to complete an equity offering, and continued to grow until it was acquired a few years after the direct listing for $240 million in cash.
- Onfolio had about $250k in revenue, committed to a direct listing, raised $4.5 million through the issuance of common shares and preferred shares, used the cash to make several acquisitions and make progress towards a direct listing, pivoted midway to a traditional IPO, used shares to raise $13.7 million, increased revenue 21-fold and recently announced their intent to raise up to $10 million through the issuance of preferred shares, for proceeds to make additional acquisitions.
- Genflat had spent several years engineering and patenting their innovative and now award-winning collapsible shipping container and actuator but has no revenue at the moment. By committing to a direct listing, the company was able to raise capital through the issuance of shares in a 'pre-listing' private placement. They are on track to become publicly traded in 2024.
Third-party costs to complete a direct listing, reverse merger or IPO are highly dependent on the accounting, audit and legal expenses which varies based on many factors. Generally speaking, our clients start the process for $20,000 to $50,000 and then raise capital in a 'pre-listing' offering to use investor funding to pay for everything. For our services, we charge a fee payable in cash, but we are largely motivated by equity. As a result, we only engage with companies when we believe our process and strategies will help an entrepreneur build a larger and significantly more valuable business.
Contact us to schedule a zoom meeting if you'd like to learn more about the public listing process, how to use the advantages to accelerate the growth of your business and discuss your specific situation. We love to speak with smart entrepreneurs, and we don't charge anything for our consultation and strategy sessions until we agree to work together.
Contact us to introduce yourself and explore if we should work together.
We don't charge anything for our consultation or strategy sessions until we agree to work together.