When in a companys life does the research process begin?
As soon as they go public, or if you’re involved in taking them public. It would begin as soon as you start calling on them to determine whether they were a good candidate to go public. Describe that process. You look out at the universe and start calling on– It can happen a lot of different ways. It could be initiated by the company. They could call you and say, “Look, we’re interested in building a relationship with you and having you take a look at our company; tell us what you think.” It could begin with a banker. They could say, “Look, there’s this company that I’ve discovered that I think is a really great company and they might be a candidate to go public.” Or it could begin with me. … In some cases, I saw a company out there that I thought was really cool and wanted to be associated with, so I called on them. … I’ve talked to a number of CEOs. They say the analyst is very important. What do you understand that they’re looking for in you? I think they’re looking for somebod
