In 2004, Blockbuster video had reached its peak with 9,000 brick-and-mortar stores worldwide and a new store opening every 17 hours. Today, there’s just one left in Bend Oregon – the last Blockbuster store. If you were an investor in Blockbuster at that time, what metrics would you have been watching to make sure you exited your […]
We’ve covered hundreds of startups over the years at Nanalyze, and many of them have started going public in what has become a record-breaking year for IPOs. Quite a few of these companies have chosen to go through the back door to the public markets through reverse mergers with special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). In […]
The number of companies going public is becoming overwhelming. We largely cover U.S. initial public offerings, and 30% of them this year (measured by proceeds) have been special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). But here’s the really interesting metric. If the data provided by StockAnalysis.com is to be believed, there have been 991 IPOs on the […]
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into space, there’s been another SPAC attack. NewSpace company Terran Orbital just announced plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). We had finally finished slogging through a dozen shiny investor decks, starting two years ago with space tourism company […]
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. That’s the title of a book by economist Milton Friedman that business school professors expect you to read as part of your bee school experience. It’s a dreadfully boring book that you can skip by simply pondering what it says on the tin. The saying “there ain’t […]
While special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in their current form have been around since the 1990s, these shell corporations that acquire and merge with private companies have surged in popularity in the last couple of years. There have been more than 600 SPAC filings and about $170 billion raised since last year, according to the […]
On a small plot of blue clay soil in France are grown grapes that produce one of the finest wines known to man – Petrus. While cult wine movie Sideways painted a bad picture of merlots, nobody puts Petrus in the corner. It’s a merlot whose berries are picked one at a time, consistently commanding […]
If you can figure out what motivates someone, you’re in a much better position at the negotiation table. In the case of special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), you have three stakeholders at the table – the sponsor who gets paid millions if any deal gets done (sponsors have seen average returns of +958%), the company […]
If you’re thinking you haven’t maximized your short time here on earth, read Sir Richard Branson’s autobiography, Losing My Virginity. Let the shame and self-loathing sink in for a bit. What this charismatic human accomplished during his 71 years on this planet is hard to fathom. Considered the poster boy of entrepreneurial success, Mr. Branson’s spare […]
When Elon Musk decided he wanted to send the first rocket to Mars, he went rocket shopping. That’s when he found out the price of a rocket was astronomical, yet materials only accounted for 2-3% of the cost. So, he decided to build his own rocket and SpaceX was born. The end result is a […]