INSIGHTS
Top 5 Ways CFOs Can Fine Tune Relationships with Outside Auditors
By Ravi KumarThere are few service provider relationships that are more critical than the relationship between a public company CFO and their audit partner. It has been said...

Off the Record: Investors and Execs on Being Smarter About Lawyers and Fees
by Small-Cap InstituteThis is part of a continuing series where SCI speaks with experienced, small-cap investors and executives “off the record” about a variety of capital...
What Every Small-Cap CEO Needs to Know about Shareholder Activism (Part 4 of 4: Activists Are at the Door. Now What?)
by Beatriz Infante Part 1 of this primer covers why small-cap companies can frequently be magnets for activist challenges. Part 2 discusses the different kinds of activist...
What Every Small-Cap CEO Needs to Know about Shareholder Activism (Part 3 of 4: How to Avoid Triggering Activist Activity)
by Beatriz Infante Part 1 of this primer covers why small-cap companies can frequently be magnets for activist challenges. Part 2 discusses the different kinds of activist...

The Road to Successful Financings Is Paved with Brutal Frankness
Small-cap companies raise $25-$40 billion every year in the equity capital markets, and every special situation fund manager that provides this growth capital would confide...
What Every Small-Cap CEO Needs to Know about Shareholder Activism (Part 2 of 4: Who Are They… A Deeper Dive)
by Beatriz Infante Part 1 of this primer covers why small-cap companies can frequently be magnets for activist challenges. Part 2 discusses the different kinds of activist...

What Every Small-Cap CEO Needs to Know about Shareholder Activism (Part 1 of 4: Who Are They, and Why Are They Here?)
by Beatriz Infante Part 1 of this primer covers why small-cap companies can frequently be magnets for activist challenges. Part 2 discusses the different kinds of activist...

Memo to Small-Cap CEOs: The “Investor” You Just Met With… Might Not Be an Investor
By Small-Cap InstituteSmall-caps raise between $30 billion to $50 billion annually in the equity capital markets to facilitate expansion and innovation. Nearly every...

Three Characteristics of Companies That Successfully Uplist
In any given year, dozens of publicly traded companies move to Nasdaq and NYSE from other trading venues in the United States; i.e., they “uplist.” Uplisting can be a...
Off the Record: Investors and Execs on Earning Call Scripts
By Small-Cap Institute This is part of a new series where SCI will be speaking with experienced, small-cap investors and executives “off the record” about a variety of...

Bridging the Chasm: What Small-Cap Investors Want Board Members to Know
By Adam J. Epstein, Guest Edited by Andrew E. Shapiro One of the reasons why the overwhelming majority of shareholder activism campaigns are in small-cap companies is...

Quarterly Earnings Press Releases: What Investors Actually Think When You…..
As is evidenced by the numerous different formats for earnings press releases, there is no “correct” way to communicate quarterly financial results. But experienced...

Comprehensive Overview of Small-Cap Financing Structures
By Adam J. Epstein[1]For both new and experienced small-cap officers and directors, the menu of potential financing structures can be somewhat intimidating. The purpose of...

Why Investors Care So Much About Who Is On Your Board
“… [E]xecutives who view boards as a nuisance only undermine themselves and the company’s prospects for long-term growth.” Larry Fink, CEO, BlackRock (January 2018) “… [T]he...

Small-Cap CEOs: Think Twice Before Adding a Large-Cap Executive to Your Board
By Adam J. EpsteinSmall-caps often contain directors who are new to the small-cap world, having spent their careers operating, governing, or advising large-cap...

A Step By Step Approach to Avoiding Common Mistakes When Board Members Engage with Shareholders
A special thanks to iconic boardroom lawyer, Bob Lamm, for his invaluable advice and contributions to this piece.There was a time in the not too distant past when board...

Webinar: Small-Caps & Media: Dos and Don’ts From a WSJ/Bloomberg Veteran
CEOs ask us regularly for advice about how to exceed investor expectations when interacting with the media. Paul Barrett worked as a journalist for more than 30 years,...

“About Us” Videos Are a Necessity, but Less is More
By Small-Cap Institute.There is no doubting that we live in a video world. More than 1 billion hours of videos are consumed each and every day on YouTube. Despite this,...

The Credibility-Destroying Earnings Q&A Reply
By Small-Cap Institute.Investor: “I saw the cash balance at quarter end. Do you need to raise more capital?” CEO: “We have no plans to raise capital at this time.” [12 days...

Issuer-Paid Equity Research Coverage: Should You or Shouldn’t You?
By Small-Cap Institute.One of the most impactful changes in the equity capital markets over the last few decades is the well-chronicled decrease in sell-side “research...
SUBSCRIBER CONTENT
PR: A Misunderstood and Overlooked Micro-Cap “X” Factor
By Small-Cap Institute.Micro-cap companies – those with market caps between $50 million and $300 million – often share a common trait that separates them from more highly valued public companies: they are often predominantly owned and traded by nonprofessional...
Investors Talk About Company PowerPoint Presentations
By Small-Cap Institute.PowerPoint presentations are equally confounding to both issuers and investors. Small-cap companies are run by smart executives, who are experts in their businesses, and they take great care to explain their companies to investors as clearly and...
Should Your Company Have a LinkedIn Company Page?
By Small-Cap Institute. We get asked this question a lot, and it has become increasingly clear that companies are often recipients of confusing and sometimes dubious advice in this regard. Though subject to a few caveats, the short answer – particularly for small-caps...

Setting Your Board Members Up to Succeed
By Small-Cap Institute.Great small-caps are not only disciplined when it comes to appointing new board members, but they take the extra step of setting directors up to succeed by thoughtfully preparing them. If you were to ask those companies why “onboarding” is so...

A Differentiated, Practical Methodology for Analyzing Public Company Board Seat Opportunities
By Small-Cap InstituteConspicuously lost in the dialogue about getting a coveted public company board seat is how to decide whether to accept one if it is offered. As we have discussed elsewhere within Small-Cap Institute public company board service – particularly...
Be Very Careful When Moving a Board Member into the C-Suite
By Susanne MelineA 2018 article in The Wall Street Journal highlighted the increased frequency with which large-cap companies have been replacing CEOs with existing board members[i]. Recent cases include David L. Calhoun (Boeing); John Donahoe (Nike); James Taiclet...
IR Website Compliance – Are You Prepared for an SEC IR Website Compliance Review?
Tom Runzo, Equisolve Jack Hogoboom, Lowenstein Sandler Any SEC inquiry can be a terrifying experience and IR website compliance is no exception. While your IR website may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things when it comes to compliance, let’s face it: once...
Pandemic Teach-In: Small-Cap Leaders Weigh in on Leadership
By Small-Cap Institute We reached out to small-cap leaders both inside and outside the confines of Small-Cap Institute to share some of their thoughts about operating and governing during the business challenges created by COVID-19. What resulted was an instructive...

Cybersecurity Pitfalls to Avoid While Working from Home
A chief information security officer weighs in with practical advice and red flags to watch for while working from home. By Amanda Gerut As companies continue in remote-work mode, the cybersecurity landscape is undergoing massive shifts. For small-cap companies,...

Small-Cap Institute’s 2020 Diversity Report
by Small-Cap Institute Small-Cap Institute’s board diversity initiative is designed to educate small-cap boards about how to efficiently locate board candidates with greater thought diversity. Many experienced small-cap investors concur that boards that are comprised...