Book of the Month
Wallstreet.com by Andrew Klein
A couple of years ago I read about a microbrewery which had set things up so that investors could trade shares of the microbrewery directly, without a broker, using the web site of the microbrewery. As it turns out, that microbrewery was the Spring Street Brewing Company, makers of WIT! beers, and the founder of that microbrewery was Andrew Klein. So when I saw the book I was intrigued.
Andrew Klein tell his the story in an entertaining, accessible manner. He tells of becoming a securities lawyer, and doing work as the same for several years. The inside views given in this part of the book should be interesting to anybody even remotely associated with the IPO process. He then tells of traveling in Europe and how, upon encountering a specialty beer in Belgium, he decided he would bring that beer to the US.
Having made this decision, he tells how he went about founding a brewery with no previous brewing experience, and how he financed it. Following this, he led in the creation of a mechanism by which investors in the brewery could buy and sell shares to each other. This of course led to an SEC investigation, which ultimately resulted in Spring Street gaining approval for the trading system.
The publicity from this resulted in numerous people contacting the Spring Street Brewing Company to ask for help in getting financing for their businesses. Recognizing a need and an opportunity, Klein then set out to establish Wit Capital, which functions as an investment banking operation for private placements, venture capital and the like. What sets Wit Capital apart from other investment banks is that it is structured so that investors of quite ordinary means can participate in the process.
The book is a very enjoyable read, and will not take long to read. It will not greatly improve your investing skills, but I definitely recommend it with two thumbs up. You can also visit Wit Capital at witcapital.com.
Cheers,
Axel
|
