You built something real. You're not done yet.

Your company is established and profitable, and you want to build something much bigger. Becoming a public company lets you recruit with stock, buy competitors with stock and raise capital on your terms, while you stay in control.

Led by Joel Arberman: more than 30 years across Wall Street, Bay Street and his own companies, and 17 companies taken public, several of them his own.

The ceiling you've probably hit

You didn't get here by accident. But the tools that built your company aren't the tools that will build one several times its size. Most owners run into at least one of these:

• Growth runs on cash flow. Every expansion waits for profits, or for a bank loan with your personal guarantee on it.
• You can't land the people you need. The leaders who could take you to the next level want equity, and private equity is hard to value and harder to sell.
• Someone else is buying your competitors. Consolidators backed by private equity are rolling up your industry, and they can outbid you for the owners you'd like to buy.
• Bigger customers and partners want a bigger company. Size, audited numbers and status open doors that stay closed to smaller private firms.

None of that is a talent problem. It's a toolkit problem.

Use the private equity playbook, without selling to private equity

Private equity firms buy businesses like yours at a modest multiple of earnings, combine several of them, add stronger leaders and sell the larger group at a higher multiple. The playbook works. The question is who keeps the upside.

Becoming a public company gives you many of the same tools, so you can be the consolidator in your industry instead of one of its targets. Be the roll-up, not the rolled-up. If acquisitions are your main strategy, see the Building to Buy playbook.

Five tools a public company has that a private one doesn't

• Recruit leaders with real equity. Offer stock with a market value, not a promise. The people who can run divisions, open markets and take over the day-to-day finally have a reason to say yes.
• Buy competitors with stock, not just cash. Many owners nearing retirement would take shares in a growing company alongside a check. Each deal can add earnings without draining your cash or piling on debt.
• Raise capital when you want to. Fund a large acquisition or expansion on your terms, without giving a private equity firm a board seat or an exit date.
• Credibility that opens doors. Audited financials and public reporting help with lenders, larger customers and strategic partners.
• Advisers and partners with a stake in your success. Stock options can attract experienced board members, advisers and referral partners who'd never commit to a private company. In most industries your competitors are private, so you're the only one who can offer it.

A few years in, once the company has grown and its shares trade regularly, you'll have an option most private owners don't: selling some of your shares gradually without selling the company. It isn't the reason to do this, and it isn't available on day one. It means the value you build can eventually become wealth you can use.

It sounds like a crazy idea. Here's why it isn't.

Most owners assume going public means a Wall Street IPO, $100 million in revenue and a roadshow. For an established company, the usual route looks different:

• No big IPO. Most companies list through a direct listing on the OTCQB, a U.S. market for smaller and growing public companies, and can move up to Nasdaq or the NYSE later.
• A private placement sized to your plan. Before listing, you raise from your own network or beyond it. It might fund a specific use of proceeds, give you enough shareholders to meet listing requirements, or bring partners and advisers in as shareholders. Some companies raise only a modest amount because what they need is shareholders, not money.
• About a year. Audit, filings and listing typically take around 12 months. The building happens in the years after.
• You stay in charge. You usually keep majority ownership and keep running the company. You add outside shareholders, a board and reporting, and we'll explain what that means day to day.

Same playbook, much larger scale

Well-known companies have used public stock this way. Most went public through traditional IPOs and are far larger than a company starting out today, so treat them as illustrations of how the tools work, not as a forecast.

• Perficient (technology services). Went public in 1999 in a small IPO raising about $6 million, with revenue under $10 million. Within a year it used stock, along with cash, to buy two firms. In 2024 a private equity firm bought it at an enterprise value of about $3 billion.
• NV5 (engineering and consulting). Listed on Nasdaq in 2013 and kept buying firms in its field, reaching 27 acquisitions by late 2017. By 2025 it was guiding to roughly $1 billion in annual revenue.
• Brown & Brown (insurance). Hyatt Brown bought his family's small agency for $75,000 in 1961. Public stock later helped fund a steady stream of agency acquisitions, and the company joined the S&P 500 in 2021.

None of these companies are Meraki clients or connected to Meraki. Facts are from public filings and company announcements. Their results don't predict yours.

What it could mean for your stake

• Today: $1 million in earnings × 4 = $4 million
• Five more years, growing privately: $1.5 million × 5 = $7.5 million
• Five years building as a public company: $2 million × 10 = $20 million. Even if you own 70% after issuing stock for acquisitions, your stake is worth about $14 million.

Hypothetical illustration only, not a projection or promise. Multiples vary widely by industry, size, growth, trading liquidity and market conditions, and your result could be lower. We'll walk through realistic numbers for your business in the first conversations.

Is it worth it? How to decide

This path costs real money and real attention. Weigh it honestly before you commit to anything. That's what the first conversations are for.

What it asks of you

• Money: a monthly advisory fee, plus audit, legal, accounting and exchange costs to list and to stay public.
• Time: about a year to list, with you and your finance lead closely involved. Most companies need a CFO if they don't already have one.
• Attention: quarterly reporting, a board, shareholders and the discipline that comes with them.
• Risk: trading in smaller public companies can be thin, share prices can fall, stock used for acquisitions dilutes your ownership, and competitors will see your numbers.

It's more likely worth it if you

• Can name the people you'd hire, the companies you'd buy or the partners you'd win if you had public stock to offer
• Work in a fragmented industry with owners ready to sell
• Have 5 to 10 more years of drive and want the company to be much bigger
• Run clean books, or could get them audit-ready within a few months

It's probably not worth it if you

• Want to sell the company within the next few years (see Building to Sell)
• Don't want outside shareholders, a board or public reporting
• Need quick cash or a guaranteed outcome

How it works

Your company is always in one of three modes. The work, and the monthly fee, follow the mode you're in.

1. Raising. Every engagement starts here: every company going public needs more shareholders, and almost every one needs capital too. We organize the company for life as a public company: structure, cap table, financial records and governance. Then we prepare your private placement: how much, on what terms, investor materials, a data room, a compliance framework and an outreach plan. You raise it, from your own network or beyond it, and we coach you through it.

2. Listing. With the capital in place, we manage the process of becoming a public company, usually by direct listing on the OTCQB. We bring in the auditors and securities lawyers you need and coordinate the whole sequence.

3. Building. Strategic advice whenever we're not running a listing, before or after it: recruiting with stock, acquisitions, partnerships, capital strategy, and moving up to a larger exchange when it makes sense.

What it costs

Start for $10,000 a month while you're raising. That mode typically runs about two months, so about $20,000. After that, the monthly fee follows the mode you're in and your company's size and scope. We also hold equity, so we do well only when you do.

Third-party costs (audit, legal, accounting, exchange and filing fees) are paid directly to those providers. They vary with each company's size and complexity, so we'll give you a realistic estimate once we've seen your financials. For comparison, taking a private equity investment usually means giving up a large stake, board seats and a say over when you sell.

You won't be doing this alone

I'm Joel Arberman. I started as an equity analyst at asset management firms in New York, and at 22 became a partner at a 700-person investment bank. I've spent more than 30 years across Wall Street, Bay Street and my own companies, and taken 17 companies public, several of them my own.

My first public company used its stock to pay for software development and public relations, to bring a well-known venture capitalist onto its board, and to buy another company outright. That's the playbook I now help established owners run, with someone in their corner who has done it before, at every step.

Questions owners ask

I'm not looking to sell. Why would I go public?

Because being public is a growth tool, not an exit. It gives you stock to recruit and acquire with, and access to capital on your terms. You can stay public and keep building for as long as you like.

Is this an IPO?

Usually not. There's no big Wall Street underwriting or roadshow. Most companies list through a direct listing on the OTCQB, which is simpler and less costly, and can move up to Nasdaq or the NYSE later.

Do we need to raise money?

You'll do a private placement before listing, but its size depends on your plan. Some companies raise for a specific use. Others raise a modest amount mainly to have enough shareholders to list, or to bring partners and advisers in as shareholders.

How much of my time will it take?

The most during the year it takes to list, when you and your finance lead work closely with auditors and lawyers. After that, reporting becomes a quarterly routine carried mostly by your CFO and outside accountants.

Do I lose control of my company?

No. You stay in charge and usually keep majority ownership. You'll have outside shareholders, a board and reporting duties, and we'll explain exactly what that means day to day.

Will there be buyers for my shares?

Honestly, trading in smaller public companies can be thin, especially at first, and no one can promise a share price or trading volume. Building real investor interest takes time and results.

Are you a broker-dealer or investment bank?

No. Meraki Partners, LLC is an advisory firm. We don't sell securities or introduce you to investors. Where you need an auditor or securities attorney, you hire them directly, and we help you choose and manage them.

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