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Posts Tagged ‘take company public pink sheets’

Take Your Company Public: Understanding The Political Machine

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Our firm takes small companies and industry genre leaders public in the United States. We specialize in the OTCBB, A to Z facilitation as well as NASDAQ IR and strategies consulting. We work with global corporate entities from Greece to China, from South America to Europe. I say this not to boast or market myself but to give you some comfort that what you are about to read is based purely on experience and absolutely objective and if you are about to take your company public or trying to turn-around or restructure your public entity, this information will be of tremendous help to you.

I see companies rise and fall before and after the ‘going public’ process. Some companies have great ideas and constantly struggle, some are hardly worth their weight in pocket fuzz but thrive and to understand why we must step back and look at a public and pre public concept as you would a globe that you can set on a desk and spin slowly over and over again. Stand on the desk and kneel on the ground, stand on your hands if you have to and the point of this exercise is to look at your public entity from every imaginable angle searching for any and all chinks in the armor.

Think past the basics of going public. Any informed CEO, COO or CFO of a pre or post public entity will comprehend the basics: you’ll have a first round seed capital raise, you’ll need a solid board of directors and solid executives with an appealing pedigree, your company needs a viable and yes, ‘recession proof’ product or service. You need a solid pre public corporate publicity strategy to make your company stand out like a blinding beacon with strategies that wrap around the corporation as well as each executive to increase the market awareness of their existence in the industry power structure and of course you’ll need solid and massive post public investor relations to stabilize and grow that stock price.

Now here is something that you may not have taken into consideration but is a necessity to filling in the gaps of your corporate profile as well as strengthening those invisible inferiorities in the corporate armor. Political power structure contacts are a must. Yes, political in every sense of the word. I mean you need strong contacts in your operating country’s political electoral system of influence to gain access to those ‘no bid’ contracts. It’s a mandatory evil that separates the men from the boys. Get to know lobbyists, congressmen, political attorneys, senators and most importantly get on a first name basis with the direct executive assistants for each of these players as they are the ones that will make the introductions.

Your face needs to be seen in the papers and journals alongside of these power players. Your name needs to be mentioned in cigar filled rooms where these individuals congregate. Don’t think for a second that hard work, blood sweat and tears will get your company to the next level; it’s all about connections and the public conception of you and your company.

Simultaneously you need to take into consideration the social political conception of your company. Truth be told, celebrities and corporations get involved with charities and socially conscientious callings such as Poverty Awareness, Haiti Financial Assistance, African Relief and like strategies not necessarily because they have a spiritual awakening and want to make the world a better place.

These companies are piggybacking off of the free press and the social idea that free money to charity somehow justifies the means in which they earned it. Free handout charity affiliation has a way of wiping the slate clean and telling the public that if they buy your product or use your service they are, in some strange way, making the world a better place and instantly something that was once considered a guilty pleasure (such as a $5 coffee and $8 scone from Starbucks) is now a socially responsible action because .02 cents per $20 net profit intake goes to pay for coffee beans that grow in a third world country that is trying to ‘get by’ and grow organic, whatever.

Going public is one thing, staying public is something entirely different, staying public and profitable is almost unheard of. Increase your chances of success by looking at all the angles!

Corporate Power Strategies That Work! , Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Public Strategies Consulting success the easy way!

Business Owners: Build A Corporate Structure That Investors Love!

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Business Owners: Build A Corporate Structure That Investors Love! Ok, you’ve decided to go after investment capital but you’re not sure where to start. Here are the basics that you should pay close attention to before putting your company in front of investors.

First and foremost you need to perform an industry analysis that answers the questions pertaining to where you are in the industry and who are your competitors. It doesn’t matter what product or service you offer. You could be selling underwater sock fitting kits and there is a competitor and industry leader somewhere in the world. Don’t be so naive in thinking that there is no competition or that you are at the pinnacle of your industry. Show your audience that you’ve done your research and that you’ve identified the players in your market.

Next get your executive team together and it better be the who’s who in your industry. If you can’t attract the upper echelon of your industry genre then you need to do some serious PR on behalf of your individual executive team to show the public what they are made of. Brand them as the up and coming powerhouse executives in the industry. Publish their articles and knowledge on industry blogs and article submission sites. When a funding source initiates general due diligence you need to shine like a lighthouse in the fog. Each and every executive team member needs to have an image that screams power, success and investor security.

The next thing you need to do is take a serious look at your board of directors. Who is on your board, what is their compensation and is there someone that is a better fit for formulating strategies and alliances than those who are currently populating your director staff.

One of the main reasons that investors turn down companies for funding is because they lack the backup of industry players in connection to strategic alliances. You need to identify and contractually reach out to companies that will enhance your overall business strategy. Your minimum goal should be 10 solid, aged companies that have already branded their names in the marketplace and are willing to add you to their mix of advertising and ongoing strategy and they will expect the same from you. Show investors that it’s not just you treading water in the industrial whirlpool and that you’ve built a life preserver of alliances.

Now you are ready to write a business plan and private placement memorandum that takes all the essential elements above and puts them in two well authored and to the point documents that will make an interesting and informative read for investors who have a track record of investment in your particular industry. If you’ve written your own business plan, toss it. If investors are going to take you seriously you need a professionally written business plan that touches on all the triggers that investors are currently looking for.

Next, it’s best to use the Regulation D, Private Placement Memorandum as the vehicle for staying within SEC guidelines for raising capital and you should use a Direct Public Offering as the process for raising the actual capital. Reaching out to friends, family, industrial counterparts and alliances should be the first place you go for funding. If you are lucky the consultant you hire to assist you with the above processes will have a solid database of investors to assist you in your initial, first round raise via DPO.

Last but not least you should consider, even though it’s not a mandatory requirement for a PPM or DPO, getting an independent audit done on your company to demonstrate an objective analysis of your financial reality so that investors can find their comfort level quicker without a prolonged comments stage.

There you have it. These are the basics to what it takes to achieve equity investment in this current market. Get out there and raise some money!

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

How To Go Public: Make It Easy With A DPO

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

A direct public offering is when a company raises capital by selling its shares directly to what is referred to as affinity groups, unlike an IPO which are sold by a broker dealer to its customers and the general public through other broker dealers who have customers interested in buying shares in the company.

In IPO’s you have a firm commitment underwriting, where the underwriters promise to purchase the securities for their own account if they can not sell them to customers.

Best-effort underwriting: The underwriters do not guarantee any specific number of shares to be sold, they merely act as brokers.

In an IPO the lead underwriter is referred to as the syndicate manager, he keeps the book and invites other broker dealers to join the syndicate. In a firm commitment underwriting, an underwriter’s agreement makes members liable for any unsold securities, regardless of how much of their allotment they sold. .

In a direct public offering the company sells the shares to affinity groups; who falls in this category? Customers, suppliers, distributors, friends, family, employees and other members of the community. In a direct public offering (DPO) the company places its shares in the hands of those people who are familiar with the company and know the company’s product and management, and are most likely to hold the shares longer because they feel comfortable with the company’s prospects for the future.

Direct public offerings are considerably less expensive than IPO’s and most effective for smaller offerings, for large offerings the sales staff and customer base of a broker dealer are usually necessary.

Since the affinity group is already familiar with the company and its practices it doesn’t put pressure on the company to change the way it does business, and will remain loyal to the company because of it’s presence in the community.

DPO’s are preferable to venture capital financing because it allows the present management to execute its business plan without outside interference. When a small company turns to a single large investor they tend to surrender the freedom to make all the decisions.

In a DPO like other methods of going public today audited financial statements are required. Unlike a reverse merger you choose your shareholders and you don’t have to deal with shady, unscrupulous shell owners.

Shell owners usually keep between 5-15% of the shares outstanding and are quick to liquidate, and they do not have an interest in the well being of the company’s share price. Even if you insert a stipulation in the contract that they can not sell for a year they will find a way of shorting the stock and destroying the share price.

This makes the DPO a preferable option even for companies that don’t need financing but would like to go public.

A DPO does not always require audited financials but if you plan on going public you will need them. So you must hire an auditing firm that is “peer review” or PCAOB.

If you wish to take your company public then you must file a form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a form 211 must be filed with FINRA.

A DPO is an alternative to an IPO or Reverse Merger for a company wishing to go public or obtain financing; it allows the company owner(s) to call the shots instead of an underwriter or a shell owner.

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

Take Your Company Public: Here Is The Process

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

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):

Prior to filing the registration statement, a company that wishes to go public must first obtain an audit of the Company’s financial statements for the past two fiscal years. For most companies, the financial audit can be completed in about a month and costs typically range between $5,000 and $25,000, depending on the complexity of the company financials.

A public company will also need shareholders. To that end, if additional shareholders are needed, the company going public will need to complete a self-underwritten Regulation D, Rule 506 offering in which the company sells shares of its stock to investors for real consideration. This is not a difficult task, so long as you have a properly prepared private placement memorandum (PPM) and you follow the relatively simple rules of Rule 506. The price per share and number of shares offered can be determined by the Company, but most registered broker-dealers that will eventually submit a Form 211 for an OTC Bulletin Board quotation prefer to have a minimum of 400,000 shares distributed among the investors.

In addition to the minimum number of shareholders requirement, a company must have free-trading shares, called the ‘float’, in order to go public. Upon completion of the private offering and the financial audit for the prior two fiscal years, an S-1 Registration Statement must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to register the shares sold in the private placement, thus creating the free trading shares. The completion of the S-1 process with the SEC will make the Company a 1934 Exchange Act reporting company, which is required in order to obtain a quotation on the OTC Bulletin Board. The SEC will review the S-1 and provide comments within 30 days from the filing date. Comments from the SEC typically relate to the terms of the offering, the Company’s business and its financial statements. It usually takes between 2 to 3 months for the SEC to approve a registration statement on Form S-1 and for the S-1 to become effective. However, the actual amount of time will depend on the level of review and number of comments given by the SEC and the corresponding response time by the Company in filing its amendments.

Shortly after filing the S-1 registration statement with the SEC, a market maker must be ‘engaged’ to file a Form 211 application with FINRA for the purposes of obtaining a quotation of its common shares on the OTC Bulletin Board. It is important to note that market makers cannot receive compensation for making a market in a stock, thus typically you must have connections to accomplish this. The timetable for approval of the Form 211 process is approximately 3 weeks to 5 weeks. However, the Form 211 will not be approved until the S-1 is approved by the SEC since the approval of the S-1 provides the “free trading” shares necessary to obtain the OTC Bulletin Board quotation.

The completion of the entire process to become a public company typically takes approximately 3 to 4 months from completion of the private offering and financial audit, however, the actual time could vary based on the factors discussed herein. If done right, with planning, hard work, the proper foresight, and a good firm guiding you through the process, going public is a truly exciting and rewarding experience.

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

How To Build Strong Strategic Business Partnerships and Alliances Fast and Easy!

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Do You Need Capital For Your Company? Build Strong Strategic Partnerships! In this economy, companies who survive have more than just a strong business model; they have aligned themselves with strategic partners in a joint effort to create a win/win relationship where each contributes to a pool of contacts, promotional initiatives and industrial knowledge.

Strategic alliances are the number one way to strengthen your company if you are trying to raise capital from venture capital firms, angel investors, hedge fund lenders, angel investors or if you are trying to take your company public. Empirical evidence companies who demonstrate a track record of unified success strengthens the package and puts you on the radar as an invest-able entity and you’ll start to get attention from the big players as you watch the value of your company soar.

The big question is, “Where do you find these partners and who can help you speed up the search?” You should start by having an executive meeting and put all your industry contacts together and invite these contacts to a networking ‘meet and greet’. Make it nice. Have a caterer, have giveaways etc. After you’ve done this the next step is to talk to your accountant, attorney, members of professional organizations in which you are a member, your banker, your billing service (if you outsource your invoicing), your financial adviser and/or consultant and any other professional that you’ve used in the past who has access to corporations in your industry or in a complimenting industry and can introduce you to new partners. This is exactly how ‘in demand’ executives and powerful CEO’s, CFO’s and consultants do it.

I have personally built a database of 10,000′s of contacts from using these methods, in fact I’ve never gone into a consulting situation where I couldn’t introduce my client to 1,000+ new strategic partners and I just cherry pick to find the best partners for my client. Your contact portfolio is the most powerful thing you’ll have in business. Contacts are your bartering chip when you’re in a crunch or when your board of directors is all looking at you waiting for a miracle. I have made it a point to create contacts in every industry no matter how polar opposite the industries may seem because it has allowed me to step into any situation with companies of any size and immediately start putting the pieces together and building an infrastructure based off of the powerful knowledge of dozens of industry experts.

Take the initiative and find a consultant who can help you launch your company into a whole new realm with the power and knowledge and expertise of a contact base built to induce growth and stability.

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

Easily Put Your Company In Front Of 1,000\’s Of Funding Sources, Guaranteed!

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

Think back to just a few short years ago, banks were on a lending spree, corporate lines of credit were being issued in record volume and companies were able to raise equity and debt capital with reasonable ease; then came the banking crash which unfortunately brought on an entirely new group of scams preyed on the innocent and naive small business owner which damaged the economy that much more.

Scams such as platform based funding, banking instrument collateralized lending, shelf corporation scams and on and on. Fortunately there is a light at the end of the tunnel thanks to some of the venture capital and private equity industry\’s talented global finance executives who have decided enough is enough.

Now entrepreneurs are seeing professional collective funding efforts put forth by these seasoned finance gurus in the form of online membership databases which possess some of the best kept secrets in the global funding markets. Many of these databases include finance companies and methods that have never been available to the public and were used for decades by VC professionals who were able to pull off funding miracles on behalf of clients and in return made hefty commissions.

Now, with these unique contacts being placed in database form they are now available to everyone and anyone who needs capital. Imaging going to one website, joining for a modest fee and getting access to thousands upon thousands of private investors, angel investors, venture capital firms, hard money lenders, private equity firms, aggressive hedge fund lenders, Asian and European finance, factoring and other wonderful and easily comprehensive options to acquire capital.

A few of these membership databases have even taken the next step to give the business owners the elements to promote their business in a way that will help them pass due diligence with ease. Some venture capital executives got so fed up with having a client with a great business model, solid infrastructure, exceptional board of directors and even money in the bank but the deal would die when the company went into the due diligence and offer phase that they actually paid programmers to design a download-able application that offers the entrepreneur easy yet extremely powerful publicity with the strength of an actual high end PR firm all at the click of a button, it\’s truly amazing.

The economy may not be what it used to be but it has forced the evolution of certain aspects of the financial industry to be more small business and entrepreneur friendly. There is massive funding out there for your company if you take the time to look.

Do You Need Financing For Your Business? Do You Need Angel Investors, Private Investors or Venture Capital, then visit Angel Funding Project\’s site and find the best Business Funding Sources In The Industry.

Take Your Foreign Company Public: This Is The Only Truth You\’ll Get!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Bypassing the blistering reality that banks aren\’t making small or medium size business loans. Lines of credit are deal. Hard money predators are out in full force and legitimate funding sources are at an all time low. Companies can take the tried and tested route in hiring a consultant, structuring their company, building strategic alliances, creating a solid board of directors and then authoring the business plan and PPM for the initial raise but why would they when they have so many scammers telling them that they can easily raise the capital with a shelf corporation or reverse merger into a pink sheets public shell.

People in need of capital don\’t want to be bothered with the reality the capital is not as easy to obtain as it once was. Entrepreneurs are seeking the quick and easy way out which typically turns out to be the route that ruins their company and depletes their cash flow.

The truth is that your company has to be constructed on the success and failures of your executive staff. These individuals are the lifeblood of your company and their contacts and experience is what will drive your company forward into ongoing self-perpetuating growth.

Don\’t believe the hype when it comes to raising fast capital in the corporate realm. Don\’t believe that a shelf corporation will do anything but make you and your company look like idiots and don\’t think for a minute that there is any way to initiate your first round of capital without an SEC regulated Private Placement Memorandum.

Big brother is always watching and those who try to raise money without the proper structure always get burned. Why not step back, take a breath and start off your campaign to raise your first round of capital the right way with a private placement memorandum, then a direct public offering then move onto the public offering on the OTCBB.

Why not for a change, do things the correct way, using the structures that are conducive to actually raising capital the legitimate way as opposed to the fast and easy way.

The fast an easy way is often the wrong way and in the end there is no capital being raised at all, only headaches and lawsuits. Find a consultant with the experience of taking startup companies and expansion mode companies public.

Don\’t waste time with the scammers. Raise capital the right way and you\’ll never have to redo the process.

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

Take Your Company Public With A Direct Public Offering (Fast and Simple!)

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Take Your Company Public With A DPO (Direct Public Offering) If you are considering going public you are coming from one of two positions: you are either coming from a position of liquidity where you have the capital to spend $200k to go public on the OTCBB or you are coming from a position of weakness and you don\’t have liquidity.

For the former, going public is easy, find a consultant with a solid track record and take your company public, you\’re ready to go. For those of you who are coming from a weakened position due to lack of capital you should strongly consider taking your company public with a DPO (direct public offering). Typically a DPO starts with a PPM (private placement memorandum) that breaks your company into shares and prepares it for the public eye. Form D is then filed and you\’re then ready to start raising capital.

The only downside is, most companies have no one to invest in the PPM and their transaction is dead in the water. A DPO is an extremely powerful process which allows you to not only offer shares to your friends, family and professional contacts but you can also team up with an investor finder company that will contact their seed capital investor database to help you raise capital fast and easy if you are willing to sell seed stock at a discount before you go public.

Be prepared to pay a modest fee upfront as well as a small equity position as these investor finder services know full well that power that they possess with their database. If you successfully contract with a real, viable investor finder service, they will most likely want to be the consulting group that takes your company public as well. Be smart; sign on with them as they will have a vested interest in your success.

They will most likely communicate electronically with their database members via email. As interest by the investor group builds, you the company owner, will have to take over the closing as it is illegal for non licensed investor finder services to take over the closing and issuance of shares on behalf of your company.

Think of a DPO with an investor finder service as the golden tuna that can solve all of your problems in one swift movement. You can find these groups by going to your favorite search engine and typing in word combinations like \”investor finder\’\” or \”investor finder service\”. You can team up with a solid investor finder service and they will take you all the way!

Foreign, Indian and Chinese Companies, Take Your Company Public, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Take Your Company Public the easy way!

Business Owners: Experience Pure Industry Domination Right Now!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

For many professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners the current reality of their intercompany 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?

Its actually quite simple and it all comes down to a decision… a decision to step up and dominate in a no holds barred, bare knuckle fight to the finish. You need to understand and be comfortable with the reality that not everyone will make it. Most of your colleagues and professional friends are not psychologically or professionally built to last, meaning, they are not willing to do \’whatever it takes\’ to get to that next level.

Here is how it\’s done: First, decide on what you want, who you want to be and where you want to go in your career. Second, surround yourself with people that have the above characteristics your are seeking to acquire. Chances are, most of these characteristics will be spread out over several different people as opposed to one or two professional who demonstrate your future self so find 10+ people to become well associated with and begin to pattern them. Don\’t just pattern the outward and obvious characteristics but absorb the aura of their overall presents (calm, cool, collect and maybe even arrogant and rude at times).

What are their hobbies and extracurricular interests as these interests are a contributing factor to who they have become. Next, make a decision! Make a decision to overcome any obstacles that stand in your way. Dump friends and associates who are not supportive as they will only hold you back. You should quickly sever ties with any and all counterproductive individuals and interests that keep you from achieving your goal. Next, every morning as you\’re getting dressed, brushing your teeth you should also be putting on your psychological garb as well. Slip into the mindset of that person you want to be.

Put blinders on your eyes so there are no distractions. What you will find is that opportunities will seem to fall into your lap because you are willingly submerging yourself into a subculture that has worked for all of those around you who are living the dream that you will soon be part of.

As for domination, you will find that stepping into this new code of conduct and professional character you will begin to steamroll forward, yes some people will be crushed under the wheel of your progress but this is a natural part of evolution. Use the element of arrogance, not in an artificial way that is used by insecure people but in a form of self promotion. Begin to state your opinion on industry specific blogs.

Put out industry niche information videos on viral media sites. Bring internet surfers to your blogs and videos with social and news bookmarking links scattered all over the web. Brand yourself as the \’god\’ of your industry. Your opinion matters and after others see you opinions and concepts enough they will begin to see these ideas as the norm. They will feel that up until now they have been misinformed and uninformed and you are the person on the cutting edge of your industry. As you build momentum, whatever you do, do not stop! As you build traction of growing your own personal \’brand\’ and \’subculture\’ within the industry, this should only influence you to take it one step further with articles submitted to global, high PR article directories and press releases through various channels. This is just the beginning but you are on your way to absolute, industry domination!

Need A Corporate Consultant?, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183We Can Transform Your Business

Direct Public Offering Mistakes: A Must Read!

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Private Placement Memorandums and Direct Public Offerings, the most common mistakes made. When gearing up to raise capital it is typically a business owners first instinct to simply throw together a business plan and find the cheapest company to put together the private placement memorandum and then seek funding. What these professionals don\’t realize is that they are doing things in reverse and often times a PPM is not a standalone solution to financial needs.

The first problem is the most companies will first write a business plan and cheap PPM and look for a capital solutions last, when strategically speaking, one should first find a full service solution who has a database of investors ready to fund properly structured corporations with well authored business plans and private placement memos. After you find a company that has a ready network of seasoned investors you will often find that this firm will also structure your business and documents so that you are able to attract the attention of these investors. Next, don\’t make the mistake of hiring just anybody to write your biz plan. You need to find a professional author who is well rooted in the art of technical writing and has a solid comprehension of your industry.

Now it\’s time to write the PPM. Here is a warning that will most likely go in one ear and out the other but you must never choose the cheapest service for your PPM you will regret it and this is a guarantee. Investors see these documents all day everyday and they know a template when they see it. Don\’t believe for a second that you will get a viable private placement memo that will actually achieve funding for anything less than $3,000; it\’s just not going to happen. There is too much work involved in putting a fund-able strategy together and you\’ll never find an experienced firm to do it for cheap.

The moral of the story is to first find an investor finder solution with a solid network of investors, second have this company write your business plan and private placement memorandum to fit the needs of their investor base and lastly, talk to this consultant about helping you perform a DPO (Direct Public Offering) to their group. This is what separates the men from the boys in the venture capital consulting industry.

Legitimate consultants who stand behind their work will take your PPM directly to their investor base and help you raise capital quickly. In return for this service the company may want a modest equity position in addition to their fee but it is always worth it and typically they will take the final step and have their investors pay to take your company public. This is the ultimate for any company that is seeking a long term funding solution.

Remember the order: 1. Find an investor finder 2. Have that company write your biz plan and PPM 3. Convince the firm to perform a DPO for fast funding 4. Offer some equity to sweeten the pot so that they take you public!

Want To Go Public With Your Company, call Princeton Corporate Solutions at 267-233-0183Direct Public Offerings and Private Placement Memorandums the easy way!

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