The SPAC Podcast: Special Purpose Acquisition Company

Some companies need months, not a one-week roadshow, before the market understands them. Dan Nash explains why complex deep tech stories can fit the SPAC path better than a traditional IPO. Dan Nash, Chairman and CEO of Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SVAQ), joins host Mike Blankenship to share what two decades in capital markets taught him about when SPACs work. Dan worked on the Facebo...

Stefano Buono had already taken one company public through a traditional IPO. For newcleo, he chose a SPAC, and explains why speed and a U.S. shareholder base made the difference. Stefano Buono, co-founder and CEO of newcleo, joins host Mike Blankenship to discuss newcleo's business combination with NewHold Investment Corp. III and its listing on Nasdaq. A nuclear physicist who previously led...

ZincFive had real revenue and contracted orders it couldn't afford to turn down. So its CEO chose the path to public markets that offered certainty up front: a SPAC. Tod Higinbotham, CEO and director of ZincFive, the Tualatin, Oregon-based maker of nickel-zinc batteries for data center backup power, joins host Mike Blankenship to explain why ZincFive pursued a business combination with Spark...

What separates a space SPAC built to last from one that trades down after close? Rich Davis says it starts with valuation discipline. Rich Davis, CEO of Xterax and founder of space-industry advisory firm ArgoSat, joins host Mike Blankenship to discuss how a second-time sponsor approaches the space economy. A former Air Force pilot with a degree in astrophysics, Rich has worked as an investment ban...

"Deals close on an auditor's calendar." The press release sets the aspirational date. The audit sets the real one. And today's SPAC bottleneck isn't the trust account; it's the target. Host Michael Blankenship sits down with Drew Bernstein, Co-Chairman and Co-CEO of MarcumAsia and co-founder of MBP Global, for a cross-border auditor's view of today's SPAC ma...

SPAC IPO volume has already blown past all of 2025 — and the market isn't slowing down. Mike Blankenship breaks down what's fueling the record pace, why PIPE pricing is validating deal valuations, and how serial sponsors are driving the next wave. In this SPAC Market Update, Michael Blankenship, Managing Partner and Capital Markets Practice Co-chair at Winston Taylor, joins host Joshua W...

135 SPAC IPOs year to date. $26 billion raised. 359 SPACs still outstanding and competing for targets. Mike Blankenship breaks down what those numbers mean if you are sponsoring a SPAC or sitting on the target side of the table. Michael (Mike) Blankenship, Managing Partner at Winston Taylor and co-chair of the firm's Capital Markets practice, joins Executive Producer Joshua Wilson for a marke...

Mike Ring spent 30 years as a corporate securities lawyer. Then he co-founded a bank — and took it through a de-SPAC that required something almost no SPAC target faces: Federal Reserve approval. Mike Ring, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Old Glory Bank and former Greenberg Traurig corporate securities partner, joins host Mike Blankenship to break down what may be the first bank de-SPAC. Ring wa...

"Do you really want to be public?" It's the first question Larry Swets asks any company eyeing a SPAC — and the one most founders answer wrong. After 30 years in capital markets and more than a dozen SPACs sponsored, he's watched companies chase billion-dollar valuations they knew weren't real, then spend five years growing into a fraction of that number. In this episode,...

What does it take to bring a billion-dollar-plus quantum computing company to the public markets? In this episode, IQM co-founder and CEO Jan Goetz and SPAC sponsor Peter Ort reveal why a European quantum leader chose a SPAC over a traditional IPO, and how deal certainty and timing ultimately shaped the decision to go public now. Host Michael Blankenship is joined by Dr. Jan Goetz, co-founder and...

Vik Mittal has been investing in SPACs for 22 years. His verdict on the 2020–21 boom: roughly 60–70% of vehicles liquidated, and a majority of those that closed went bankrupt before their lockups expired — what he flatly calls "a real destruction of capital." So why is he more bullish on the asset class now than he's been in years? In this episode, Vik Mittal, Managing Member and CI...

What does it take to put fusion energy on the public markets? Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, joins Mike Blankenship to break down why the company is going public through a SPAC merger with Spring Valley — and why committed, oversubscribed PIPE capital mattered far more to him than counting on the trust account to actually come through at closing. EPISODE SUMMARY Greg Twinney, CEO of General...

What if going public meant buying Main Street — 92 small businesses at a time? Michael Blankenship sits down with Michael Brown, Co-Founder & CEO of Teamshares — a programmatic acquirer of $0.5M–$5M EBITDA businesses heading to NASDAQ via merger with Live Oak V. Founded in 2019, Teamshares has acquired 92 companies from retiring owners, runs $400M+ in consolidated revenue across 40+ industries...

Most SPAC sponsors don't realize a fairness opinion isn't just a checkbox — it's the line of defense between you and the entire fairness standard if your deal lands in litigation. Michael Moscarelli, Vice President in Houlihan Capital's Valuation and Financial Advisory practice, joins Mike Blankenship to break down what every SPAC sponsor needs to understand about fairness opin...

After 130 SPAC IPOs and 140 de-SPACs — the most of any banker he knows of — Brandon Sun shares what 13 years at the center of the blank check market actually teaches you. In this episode, Michael Blankenship sits down with Brandon Sun, Head of SPAC Investment Banking at Cohen & Company Capital Markets. With 130+ SPAC IPOs raising $45B+ in equity capital and 140 de-SPAC transactions representin...

Most first-time SPAC sponsors underestimate what a background check actually uncovers — and what it costs them when something surfaces after the S-1 is filed. James Tunkey is a background check and fraud investigation specialist with deep experience in international due diligence for SPAC IPOs and capital markets transactions. His firm handles approximately 25% of Nasdaq issuances and 40% of Hong...

Not all PIPE capital is created equal — and the wrong money can destroy a de-SPAC before it ever has a chance to perform. Steve Kann has spent 30 years in small cap investment banking — founding companies, running funds, and advising on capital formation across PIPE financings, IPOs, M&A, and de-SPAC transactions. As Head of US Investment Banking at Arc Stone Securities and Partner at Ocean St...

Every SPAC sponsor thinks their pitch stands out. Christine McNerney has seen them all — and most don't. Christine McNerney, Associate Portfolio Manager at Periscope Capital, has been with the firm since 2012 and focused on SPACs since 2021 — from testing the waters through selective PIPE financing. Periscope itself has been active in the SPAC market since 2016.  In this episode, she breaks d...

ClearThink Capital structured their SPAC IPO with closing fees under $2 million — at a time when most sponsors are paying $10 to $15 million. Bob Brown helped write the SEC rules that govern SPACs back in 1991. Here's what he and Ari built differently. Robert "Bob" Brown and Ari Brown, Managing Directors of ClearThink Capital, join Michael Blankenship on The SPAC Podcast to break do...

Valuation is one of the most critical and misunderstood aspects of any SPAC transaction. In this clip, Michael Blankenship and Delon Turner discuss why valuation is not a fixed formula, but a negotiated outcome that must balance regulatory requirements, market expectations, and long-term performance. Delon explains that while exchanges set minimum thresholds, the real challenge is finding a valuat...

Welcome to another episode of SPAC Updates, a recurring series on the SPAC Podcast where we break down the latest activity shaping the SPAC market. In this episode, hosts Josh Wilson and Michael Blankenship discuss the current state of the SPAC ecosystem, including the growing number of SPACs searching for targets and how that dynamic is shifting leverage across the market. With more than 220 SPAC...

Going public is one of the most important decisions a founder can make. But choosing the right path to the public markets is just as critical as the decision itself. In this interview, host Michael Blankenship sits down with Peter Wright , founder of McKinley SPAC and a longtime capital markets advisor with experience across more than 30 SPAC transactions. Peter shares insights from his career as...

One of the biggest emerging sectors in SPAC markets today? Data centers. In this clip; Michael J. Blankenship and Delon Turner highlights how the rapid growth of AI and cloud infrastructure is reshaping capital markets. Investors are increasingly evaluating opportunities based on future potential rather than current revenue. Data center infrastructure is one example where land and location alone c...

What makes a company the ideal SPAC target today? According to venture investor Delon Turner , the answer is increasingly tied to technology. In this clip, Delon talks with host Michael J. Blankenship and explains that while FinTech and software dominated the 2021 cycle, today’s SPAC targets are shifting toward: • Artificial intelligence • Machine learning technologies • Data center infrastructure...

The SPAC market of 2026 looks very different than the SPAC boom of 2021. In this clip, Delon Turner explains how the market has evolved since the SPAC surge several years ago. During the peak cycle, there were more SPACs chasing deals than there were viable companies to take public. That imbalance created what many now call the SPAC bubble. Since then, several things have changed: • Stronger regul...