From the Desk of Eric Ries 

SEC Approval Edition

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IT IS ORDERED that the application of LTSE for registration as a national securities exchange be, and it hereby is, granted.

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There's nothing quite like the experience of speaking an idea out loud and ultimately seeing it become a reality. On May 10, with the words above, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission brought into existence an idea I had more than nine years ago while writing the original draft manuscript for The Lean Startup: the Long-Term Stock Exchange. Working to make this happen has been my full-time job for the last several years, along with an outstanding team that now numbers more than twenty.This next generation of companies, including their leaders, their employees, and the communities they serve, have a different set of values. They're committed to building sustainable change. They understand that shareholders prosper when companies serve the interests of all of their stakeholders. And they aspire to build products that are healthy for human beings and the societies they inhabit. They deserve an economic system that has their back.

Since the news of the approval broke, my life has been a bit of whirlwind. I've linked below to some of the recent coverage, including a number of conversations where I've tried to articulate the philosophy behind the Long-Term Stock Exchange. Later today I'll be interviewed on stage by Ezra Klein at the Code Conference. Instructions for how you can watch the talk and other events, as well as get breaking news are here.

As always, if you have thoughts or feedback to share, send it to: [email protected]

[Hiring]We're building a team of true believers to advance this mission. Our goal is to build the best work environment we've ever seen for people who want to be part of an ambitious, long-term mission and contribute to a fundamental change in the financial markets. Team players who are committed, flexible, grounded, and embrace working with the culture of both coasts should take a look at these job openings:Lead System Reliability EngineerMember Operations LeadPrincipal Platform EngineerSenior Backend EngineerSenior TechOps EngineerFull-stack EngineerSenior Regulatory Compliance Officer / Counsel[Conversations]SEC approves application of Long-Term Stock ExchangeStock Exchanges in Need of Reform. Is the Long-Term Stock Exchange the Answer?Long Term Stock Exchange to allure startups in Silicon ValleyHacker News Q&A with Eric RiesAmerica’s newest stock exchange wants to fix one of capitalism’s fundamental challenges[Coverage]Silicon Valley-Backed Venture Cleared to Become 14th U.S. Stock Exchange"LTSE's vision is to create a stock exchange that encourages its listed companies to focus on achieving long-term, strategic goals instead of trying to hit quarterly earnings targets.."Silicon Valley will soon get its own stock exchange."The US will soon have a new stock exchange: government watchdogs have approved the application for Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE), a trading platform backed by prominent Silicon Valley names. The company says its rules are meant to reward investments and business strategies that focus on the long term."Going long"The bottom line: LTSE wants to provide companies with the benefits of publicly-traded life (e.g., early shareholder liquidity, great capital markets access) without some of the traditional drawbacks (activist investors, pressure to maximize short-term earnings for the sake of long-term strategy). And, in so doing, perhaps become Silicon Valley's most important startup for other startups."Uber’s listing and a new stock exchange may herald change"Instead of fighting the newcomer, incumbent exchanges should be rooting for it. Since a peak in 1996 the number of publicly traded companies in America has fallen by nearly half. The experience of Uber and Lyft, a smaller competitor whose share price has fallen by even more since it floated in March, will have done nothing to make IPOs more appealing."Long-termism (scroll down)"Mostly I am fond of experimentation in finance, and so I like the idea of an exchange setting different listing standards from all the other exchanges. Maybe LTSE is right and this is a better approach, and it will prove that empirically by actually listing companies under its weird new rules and having those companies do well."U.S. regulators approve new Silicon Valley stock exchange"The public market’s focus on short-term results leads to a decline in innovation, something LTSE wants to reverse. A 2017 study by public policy think tank Third Way showed that going public was accompanied by a 40 percent decline in patents within five years after listing, the result of pressure to satisfy analysts’ short-term expectations."