Advertisement. Advertise with us

Cherry Valley Native’s
IPO Market Exposé the
Culmination of Two-Year Effort

By TED MEBUST

CHAPEL HILL, NC – If you were walking along Pioneer Street in the early 2000s and happened upon “The Freeman’s Journal” offices near Main Street center, you’d find a young editor hard at work. Dakin Campbell, a member of Cooperstown High School’s class of 1995, was launching a burgeoning career in journalism. At that time, the Cornell University graduate could be found diligently reporting on the events of local town and county board meetings. Today, as chief financial correspondent for “Business Insider,” Campbell’s investment has paid off in dividends.

After receiving his master’s in journalism from Columbia University, Campbell began working for “Bloomberg News,” where his foray into the financial world took off. Later moving to “Business Insider,” he wrote an article in 2019 covering the near collapse of WeWork during its public debut, which would become a major driving force behind his venture into long-form writing. Considering his expert analysis of WeWork’s initial public offering, book agents began requesting Campbell delve deeper into the topic, a prospect that “certainly interested” him. He published his findings of the IPO process this past July in his book, “Going Public: How Silicon Valley Rebels Loosened Wall Street’s Grip on the IPO and Sparked a Revolution.”

“I like diving into the little corners of the financial sector, learning as much as possible about them, and demystifying what I find for my readers,” Campbell expressed.

An IPO, for the uninitiated, refers to the first time a company sells shares to public market investors. Successful companies take their shares to public markets to access a much broader group of investors. Historically, this process involves a valuation of the company’s share prices by Wall Street investment banks. However, these behemoth institutions don’t consult public buyers when deciding this price.

“A lot of the IPO process is an insider’s game,” Campbell described.

Working solely with mutual fund and hedge fund giants, Wall Street investment banks have been deciding companies’ futures for over a century. In recent years, however, some companies have been challenging this system. Campbell’s book describes the revolutionary path those companies have taken to reclaim agency in the IPO process.

Campbell’s story revolves around influential characters in the tech and finance worlds, such as Barry McCarthy, former chief financial officer at Spotify. Campbell noted that throughout the process of writing his book, “asking powerful and successful people simple questions” helped him achieve a larger goal of the project—democratizing financial expertise.

“For the average reader, understanding it all [the IPO process] is critical knowledge and good to have in order to understand how to make the right investments,” he explained.

Campbell works and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with his wife and two children. The process of writing the book, he noted, required many extracurricular hours.

“I would do my research and writing at 5 a.m. before the kids woke up and spend time during the weekend at UNC’s library,” he said. “I’m very thankful for my wife’s support during that time.”

Campbell’s book is available for order at dakincampbell.com.

Posted

2 Comments

  1. Hi! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of
    my previous room mate! He always kept chatting about this.
    I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
    Thanks for sharing!

  2. Hi! This post could not be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of
    my previous room mate! He always kept chatting about this.
    I will forward this post to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read.
    Thanks for sharing!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Related Articles

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO: 05-29-23

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for MONDAY, MAY 29 Otsego County Remembers The Fallen ONEONTA MEMORIAL DAY PARADE —10 a.m. Commemorate our country’s fallen soldiers. The day will begin with a parade (line-up at 9 a.m. and step off at 10), to commemorate Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher Robert Eramo. A riderless horse will be included as a salute to the fallen, with CWO3 Shawn Hubner, who serves in the deceased’s unit, hand carrying the battalion colors from Fort Wainwright to Oneonta and marching in the honor guard. After the parade will be a ceremony of remembrance at 11 a.m. on the Veterans Memorial…

CV Water Project Receives State Funding

CV Water Project Receives State Funding By ELIZABETH COOPERCHERRY VALLEY The spirit of creativity that has defined the Cherry Valley for generations is being renewed and rejuvenated in a new venue, and its director has now been selected for a $10,000.00 state grant to expand her work this summer. Angelica Palmer, who grew up in the village, is one of just 10 recipients of the New York State Council on the Arts’ competitive Rural and Traditional Arts fellowship. Her Cherry Valley Water Project is aimed at fostering a closer relationship between artists, community members, and Cherry Valley’s waterways, and will…

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO: 05-26-23

HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for FRIDAY, MAY 26 Celebrate Summer in Cherry Valley SPRING INTO SUMMER—Enjoy a three-day festival, May 26-29, celebrating the start of summer. Visit garage sales, find fun items at the street vendors, enjoy food from food trucks and local restaurants, get deals from local businesses, enjoy live music and dancing, celebrate the return of the Revolutionary War Clock to the Cherry Valley Museum, and enjoy the Memorial Day Parade. Cherry Valley. Visit CherryValley.com…