About Meraki Partners
Joel Arberman
Managing Member. 30+ years in capital markets and 17 companies taken public, 11 of them by direct listing.
Meraki Partners is a strategic and capital markets advisory firm, not an investment banking or brokerage firm. Joel Arberman has worked in the capital markets from three vantage points: as a buyer of companies, as an advisor on transactions, and as a founder who has built companies and taken them public.
An adviser always on your side
Experience
His expertise spans multiple facets of the financial industry:
Investment Banking Leadership
Former partner at Yorkton Securities, a 700-person investment banking firm, where he worked directly on advisory and financing transactions. He saw how deals are structured, how capital is raised, how the market reads the decisions a company makes, and what separates transactions that close cleanly from those that don't.
Ranked Sell-Side Analyst
Published equity research that institutional investors ranked in the Brendan Wood International survey.
Buy-Side Expertise
Served as an analyst in fixed income and small- and mid-cap equities at First Investors Asset Management and SunAmerica Asset Management, two multi-billion-dollar asset management firms. That work showed him how institutional investors weigh risk, judge management and allocate capital, and what they need to see from a company before they invest.
Public Market Transactions
Personally led the successful public listing of 17 companies through IPOs, direct listings, and reverse mergers in the U.S. and Canada.
Joel has done this work as a founder and as an advisor. Several of the 17 companies he has taken public were his own, and the rest were clients, across IPOs, direct listings and reverse mergers. That combination is less common than it sounds. Most advisors have not built and listed companies themselves, and most founders have not coordinated dozens of capital markets transactions across multiple structures and industries. He helps business leaders make the transition to public company status, attract institutional investors and accelerate growth through acquisitions.
If you're an entrepreneur looking to take your company public and scale faster than otherwise possible, Joel’s experience and proven strategies can help you achieve that goal.
What we do
Our team has guided companies through direct listings, reverse mergers, IPOs, and other capital market transactions, helping entrepreneurs access the public markets, attract investors, and position their businesses for long-term growth.
Going public involves lawyers, auditors and other specialists, each responsible for one piece of the process. We provide the continuity between them, and we stay involved after the listing, where most of the results of being public are decided.
Decide if it fits
We assess whether becoming public, at this point in time, would improve your ability to raise capital, recruit, partner and grow. If it wouldn't, we say so.
Choose the route
Direct listing, reverse merger or IPO. We match the structure to your stage, your goals and the capital you can access. Compare the paths.
Run the process
We sequence the work so costs and commitments track progress, coordinate your service providers and spot issues before they become obstacles.
Build after listing
We prepare management for reporting, investor communication and governance, and help you use the public structure to raise capital, hire and pursue acquisitions.
What we don’t do
We do not raise capital. We are not brokers, finders, placement agents or investment bankers, and we don't have a pool of investors. Early capital comes from founders and their own networks. As a company builds credibility in the public markets, we can identify investment banking firms whose investors may be interested and help with introductions.
We don't run paid investor relations campaigns. Early on, growing revenue and profits do more for a company's following than promotion does.
Who we don't work with. Companies that harm animals, and companies where an officer, director or 5% shareholder has a felony, a crime in a regulated industry or a crime of moral turpitude. Any open cases need to be resolved before we start.
How we work
- A few companies at a time We work with a small number of companies at any given time. That is not a positioning choice. It reflects what coordinating a public listing actually requires.
- In it for the long term Engagements begin before the listing and usually continue well after it.
- Aligned incentives We're paid a monthly advisory fee plus equity, so our results track yours over time.
- Straight answers If it's not a fit, we'll tell you directly. If it may be a fit later, we'll outline what needs to change first. There's no charge for consultation until we agree to work together.
- One coordinator for the specialists Lawyers handle the legal structure, auditors the financial statements and investment bankers the capital, once a company is far enough along for them to engage. Each is capable, but no one is responsible for the whole, and that gap is where outcomes diverge. We coordinate all of them and keep the process moving.
Track record
Joel Arberman has taken 17 companies public in the U.S. and Canada, several of them his own: 11 by direct listing, 4 by reverse merger and 2 by IPO. He has also prepared more than 30 private placements.
Next step
If you're weighing whether going public could help your company grow, start by telling us about your company. We'll review what you send and, if there may be a fit, set up a first conversation. Meraki Partners is based in Delray Beach, Florida. The name comes from meraki , a Greek word for doing something with soul, creativity and care. We are not affiliated with Cisco Meraki, Cisco's networking business ( more on the difference).