The SPAC Podcast: Special Purpose Acquisition Company
🎙️ Welcome to The SPAC Podcast — your front-row seat to the dynamic world of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies.
Hosted by Michael Blankenship, a leading capital markets attorney and partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, and Joshua Wilson, executive producer and capital markets advisor, The SPAC Podcast brings you candid conversations, insider insights, and sharp analysis from the people shaping the future of the SPAC market.
Whether you’re a sponsor, investor, founder, attorney, banker, or just curious about the mechanics and momentum behind SPACs — this show is your go-to source for education, strategy, and real-world stories from the dealmakers behind the deals.
🚀 What You’ll Hear
In each episode, we’ll unpack:
- The structure, lifecycle, and mechanics of SPACs — from IPO to de-SPAC
- Legal and regulatory insights that matter to sponsors and targets
- Interviews with founders, investors, and advisors who’ve navigated successful transactions
- Trends and forecasts from the front lines of capital markets
- Lessons learned, deal strategies, and ways to leverage SPACs as a growth vehicle
We’re not just watching the SPAC market — we’re talking to the people building it.
🎧 Meet Your Hosts
Michael Blankenship is the Office Managing Partner of Winston & Strawn LLP (Houston) and Co-Chair of the firm’s Capital Markets practice. He has represented over 100 public companies, private equity firms, and SPACs in IPOs, M&A, de-SPACs, and securities offerings. Known for his clarity, legal acumen, and deal fluency, Michael brings unmatched insight into the regulatory, transactional, and strategic forces shaping the SPAC space.
Joshua Wilson is experienced in investment banking and the founder of multiple media brands, including The Investor Relations Podcast. With over 2,000 interviews under his belt and deep experience in real estate, private capital, and investor engagement, Josh brings a fresh voice and strategic lens to every conversation — helping connect deals with the stories and people behind them.
Together, they bridge law, finance, and media — guiding listeners through the world of SPACs with clarity, credibility, and curiosity.
🌎 Who This Show is For
- SPAC Sponsors & CEOs
- Institutional and Private Investors
- Investment Bankers & Corporate Attorneys
- Venture-backed Founders and Startups
- Private Equity & Family Offices
- Finance Professionals and Capital Markets Enthusiasts
đź”” Subscribe, Follow, and Join the Conversation
This isn’t just a show — it’s a platform for education, connection, and business development in the SPAC ecosystem. Subscribe now on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. New episodes drop weekly.
Follow us on LinkedIn and share the show with colleagues, clients, and fellow capital markets pros.
The SPAC Podcast
Where sponsors meet stories, markets meet momentum, and strategy meets execution.
The SPAC Podcast: Special Purpose Acquisition Company
Why Public Conglomerates Are Outperforming Private Equity
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this clip, Roland Austrup discusses research from an upcoming white paper comparing modern public operating conglomerates to private equity performance. Companies like Danaher, Constellation Software, Brookfield, Roper, and Berkshire Hathaway have demonstrated that public markets can deliver strong long-term returns while maintaining operational flexibility.
Roland explains why some companies may actually face more constraints under private ownership than in public markets, where capital access and broader investor participation can create stronger alignment and long-term growth opportunities.
Disclaimer: Michael J. Blankenship is a licensed attorney and partner at Winston & Strawn LLP. Joshua Wilson is a licensed Florida real estate broker and holds FINRA Series 79 and Series 63 licensure. The content of this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered legal, financial, or compliance advice. All views and opinions expressed by the hosts and guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of any regulatory agency, law firm, organization, or employer. Listeners should consult their own legal counsel, compliance teams, or financial advisors to ensure adherence to applicable regulations, including SEC, FINRA, and other industry-specific requirements. This podcast does not constitute a solicitation or recommendation for any financial products or services. Let's
Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeblankenship/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabrucewilson/
To Contact Us, Please Visit:
Roland Austrup: I've got a white paper that I'm working on which compares, private equity to public markets. So I'm not gonna go into great detail on it, but I'll characterize the main themes that we're seeing there right now.
We did a study of, what I would call modern operating conglomerates because a venture isn't operating conglomerate, but what we do under the hood is different than what Danaher Constellation or Brookfield or Roper or Berkshire do. But you can classify a number of companies as modern, operating conglomerates and what we've noticed or public conglomerates, what we've noticed is that the performance of those companies actually outperforms private equity indices. So the thesis that, one of the thesis of our, the paper writing is that there, there's, and this is not to take anything away from private equity or venture, but.
A lot of companies decided not to go public because they didn't really want to have the cost of being a public company or the regulatory burden of being a public company. They thought they'd have more freedom by being funded privately. I would argue that's not the case. If you have if you're not democratized with public market investors, you have very few people that can control you and if you don't perform.
They have certainly more controls on your business than, a broader a public market investor base would have. So I think a lot of the, a lot of operating companies are realizing that. They have more handcuffs being private than if they're public.