Insights on Capital Markets and Leadership with Stephen Older of McGuireWoods LLP 9-27-25

Summary

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Becker Business Podcast Episode Summary

Podcast: Becker Business
Host: Scott Becker
Guest: Stephen Older, McGuireWoods LLP
Episode: Insights on Capital Markets and Leadership with Stephen Older
Date: September 27, 2025
Recorded At: McGuireWoods Healthcare Growth and Operations Conference

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Overview

In this episode, Scott Becker sits down with Stephen Older, a public company securities expert and leader at McGuireWoods LLP’s New York office. Their conversation delves into current trends in the capital markets, particularly in the life sciences sector, the challenges and opportunities faced by companies seeking funding, as well as Stephen's perspective on leadership, mentorship, and career growth within the professional services industry. The episode offers both practical insights on business transactions and inspiring lessons for emerging leaders.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Capital Markets Activity in the Life Sciences Sector

• Increased Deal Flow: Stephen notes a significant uptick in activity within the life sciences space after a period of stagnation.
  • “It’s actually busier now than it’s been in the last couple of years. There was definitely a lull, but it’s definitely, definitely picked up in the last couple months.” (00:27)
• Types of Transactions:
  • Companies, especially those in pre-commercial, phase two stages, are raising capital through confidentially marketed public offerings and registered directs.
  • Many are compelled to raise funds under less favorable valuations to continue their clinical trials and maintain listings.
  • “Even though the market was bad, you can’t survive unless you raise money.” (00:50)
• Challenges for Emerging Companies:
  • NASDAQ now requires companies to raise $15 million of outside capital for an IPO, up from lower amounts in the past.
  • “NASDAQ is now making it a little harder for companies to get on because if you want to do an IPO, you have to raise $15 million of outside money.” (01:34)
  • Companies that raise insufficient amounts risk delisting if their stock price falls below $1 for too long.
• Promise and Pressure:
  • Despite these hurdles, Stephen remains optimistic about the market’s improving strength and the innovative treatments in development, including cancer and dementia drugs.
  • “I feel the market is stronger now...there’s a lot of need for these companies.” (01:58)

2. Looking Ahead: Industry Outlook and Hopes

• Excitement for IPOs and Breakthroughs:
  • Stephen expresses anticipation for clients reaching major milestones, including IPOs and transitions into late-stage clinical trials.
  • “Just seeing some of these companies...at an inflection point...getting to that phase three, because there’s a lot of need for drugs.” (02:54)
• Funding Environment:
  • He highlights constraints from reduced federal funding and the resilience required by companies to serve public health needs.
  • “Unfortunately, there’s...issues with less funding, the federal government under the Trump administration. I think some of these companies are going to be really valuable in terms of helping patient care.” (03:13)

3. Leadership and Career Development

• People-Centric Leadership:
  • Stephen and Scott discuss the importance of investing in people, building relationships, and helping others with no expectation of return.
  • “It’s connections to people and even helping people when you’re not going to get something out of it.” (03:42)
• Advice for Emerging Leaders:
  • Be invested in your career and proactive in client development.
  • Accept failure as a key learning tool.
  • “If I go to 10 clients and I get three of them, that’s an incredible record. So...you’re going to fail seven times, and you gotta realize...failure is not the worst thing in the world. You learn a lot from failure.” (04:16)
• Double Down on Talent:
  • Focus time and mentorship on individuals showing ambition and a desire to grow; recognize different career motivations among team members.
  • “You have to double down your time and efforts on those that really want to grow.” (05:34)

4. Culture and the Evolution of Leadership

• Against Fear-Based Leadership:
  • Leading by fear results in poor performance and paralyzes teams.
  • “The worst thing you can do is lead by fear...because when you’re always worried about failing, you’re not going to do as good a job.” (06:16)
• Creating Roles for All:
  • Recognize and appreciate team members with different aspirations and strengths.
  • “We want to find a role for people and figure out what they’re good at...there are different roles for different types of people.” (06:32)
• Modern Recognition of Motivation:
  • Today’s workforce expects supportive leadership and meaning in their roles; outdated aggressive management styles drive people away.
  • “If you try and lead that way, people leave immediately.” (07:14)
• Standards and Responsiveness:
  • High quality work and responsiveness are non-negotiables.
  • “The worst thing you do is not be responsive and not care about what you’re doing.” (07:19)

5. Fostering a Thriving Organization

• Win-Win Culture:
  • Scott and Stephen align on a “thrive culture”: when the organization and its people succeed together.
  • “The organization thrives and the people thrive. It’s not a zero sum game.” (07:49)
• Continuous Overlap of Firm and Individual Growth:
  • Recognizing and nurturing the overlap between individual ambition and organizational objectives.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The real issue is you got to learn how to fail...as a lawyer, you hit 300, you’re a home...you’re a superstar.”
  — Stephen Older (04:10)
• “Leading by fear...the worst thing you can do. People are always worried about failing, and...you’re not going to do as good a job.”
  — Stephen Older (06:16)
• “You have to double down your time and efforts on those that really want to grow.”
  — Scott Becker (05:34)
• “If you try and lead [by fear] today, people leave immediately.”
  — Scott Becker (07:14)
• “When you help people and you have nothing to gain from it, this is the greatest kind of help.”
  — Scott Becker (05:00)
• “Failure is not the worst thing in the world. You learn a lot from failure.”
  — Stephen Older (04:20)

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Timestamps for Noteworthy Segments

• 00:27 — Stephen Older’s introduction and overview of current life sciences market activity
• 01:34 — Changes to NASDAQ IPO requirements and capital-raising challenges
• 02:54 — What excites Stephen about the future of healthcare and client companies
• 03:42 — Leadership advice: investing in connections, embracing failure, and helping others
• 04:43 — Famous lessons from Federer and Bezos on wins, losses, and long-term success
• 06:16 — Stephen on the dangers of fear-based leadership and valuing diverse roles
• 07:49 — “Thrive culture”: building environments where both organizations and individuals flourish

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Final Thought

This episode provides a nuanced lens into the state of capital markets for life sciences and the evolving nature of leadership within professional services. Stephen Older’s candid, people-first philosophy and lessons on resilience and adaptability hold resonance for anyone looking to lead or grow in modern business.

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Transcript

[A]

This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. We're thrilled today to be recording at the McGuire Woods Healthcare Growth and Operations Conference. I am thrilled to be sitting with a brilliant leader from McGuire Woods, Stephen Older and Stefan. Steven is going to talk to us a little bit about what he does when he joined the firm, his practice, what he's most focused on, and a lot more. Stephen, can you take a moment and introduce yourself?

[B]

Hi, I'm Stephen Older. I'm in the New York office. I primarily do public company securities work and we're seeing a lot, a lot of activity in the life sciences space. It's actually busier now than it has been in the last couple of years. There was definitely a lull, but it's definitely, definitely picked up in the last couple months.

[A]

And what kind of stuff in the life sciences give us a feel for.

[B]

What that would be. So we do a lot of work with companies that are phase two, not they don't have a product yet. So even though the market was bad, you can't survive unless you raise money. So a lot of transactions where a lot of follow ons known as like a lot of confidentially marketed public offerings, registered directs, where companies are raising money not, not necessarily at the best valuation, but they just have to keep going. If they have to stay on Nasdaq and they have to, they need the money to keep going with the clinical trial. So a lot of cancer drugs.

[A]

Yes, we're talking currently to a company that's listed in Canada but has to raise $20 million to get onto the Nasdaq. Is that the kind of thing?

[B]

Yeah, exactly. And the problem is not problem, but NASDAQ is now making it a little harder for companies to get on because if you want to do an IPO, you have to raise $15 million of outside money. So you used to see a lot of these smaller companies raising $5 million and going public, which is probably not enough. Yeah, but.

[A]

And then they end up in trouble of delisting trouble and financial trouble and currency on the Nasdaq, but it's not really, not really deep enough.

[B]

Exactly. And you're exactly right. I mean some of these companies, we've seen that they get on NASDAQ and then they're, they're trying to struggle and if their stock price drops below a dollar for a period of time, Nasdaq is all over them to delist them. So it's been problematic. But I feel the market is stronger now than it has been in a while and hoping that, you know, there's, there's money to help. Some of these companies are really, you know, there's a lot of need for these companies. I mean, some of these companies, so dementia drugs, cancer drugs, and they need a lot of money to, to sort of get to the next, to the.

[A]

Phase three and get 100%. So after we're off this podcast, I'm going to take a moment to introduce you to the person who's, who's with this company who's trying to raise the 20 million to see if you could have discussions with them and see how.

[B]

That goes, that'd be great.

[A]

And tell me, Steven, what do you, as we head into the next year, at the end of this year, next year, what are you most excited about? What are you most focused on and excited about?

[B]

Just seeing some of these companies that really develop into. We have a couple IPOs that I'm hoping, you know, will happen. And then watching some of these companies that, you know, are sort of in an inflection point as to where they are in terms of just getting over the line and getting to that phase three, because, you know, there's a lot of need for drugs and there's a lot of, unfortunately, there's a lot of issues with less funding, the federal government under the Trump administration. I think some of these companies are going to be really valuable in terms of helping patient care.

[A]

Sure, 100%. You've also, I've watched your leadership career. You're one of the most straightforward, terrific leaders that I know. Just a genuinely, really good leader and person. Any advice that you would give to an emerging leader, what do you tell an emerging leader about growth into becoming a leader?

[B]

I think part of it. Well, first of all, in our business, like you, you're great at it, but it's connections to people and even helping people when they don't, you know, you're not going to get something out of it. Just trying to help the company and also help the younger people. Because as you, you're, you're a great example of, like, you're the, you're the reason why we have a great leadership in our healthcare group in McGuire Woods. And I feel like you have to invest in people, you know, they want to, they need to want to be helped. Because there's some people, I find the younger generation, some people, they don't. Some of them just want the 9 to 5 job. And what we do, you can't do that. You have to sort of. And so I try to tell younger people, if you really Want a career in law, you got to be invested. You got to go out and try and get clients. And the real issue is you got to learn how to fail. Because, you know, I have three children. I mean, my most important lesson is I fail. You know, as a lawyer, you hit 300, you're a home, you're. You're a superstar. Like, if I go to 10 clients and I get three of them, that's an incredible record. So, I mean, you're going to fail seven times, and you got to realize, like, failure is not the worst thing in the world. You learn a lot from failure.

[A]

100%. There's. There's a famous, you know, Roger Federer video that's been going around where. Where he says something like, he's won 53% of all of his total tennis players.

[B]

Lost 47.

[A]

Right. And he's lost 47% and still has been one of the great, great winners of all time, of Grand Slam winners. And I think that's exactly right. It's not to judge yourself so badly every time something doesn't go right. But. But I love the different piece of advice here. One thing I found over the course of my career that, that goes exactly what you're saying is, like, when you're helping people and you have nothing to gain from it, this is the greatest kind of help. There's a phrase for that, a word for it. When you help people when they're down, they remember it forever. And that's not the reason to do it, but it. But it's really. It really has a huge impact. And then you also write, you invest in people, you double down on people that are showing the interest in being leaders, and you keep on doubling down on those people. And of course, you have this exactly the situation where. And I think it's always been the case. I don't think it's just new, but you always have a percentage of people that really are motivated, driven, trying to grow, and those that are trying to have a job, and either is great. They're two different things. But you have to double down your time and efforts on those that really want to grow. And I love this concept, not being afraid to fail. All of us, let's do anything. As leaders, as entrepreneurs, as. As lawyers, we're going to have wins and losses. And it's. Jeff Bezos had a great comment on this as well. It's. He's got to constantly take shots at the plate and then double down on things that work and doesn't view the losses as losses. Their Investments that didn't go as well as they wanted to and they, they moved into, into other things. I think that's right on.

[B]

And the one thing I've learned, you know, seeing different leaders around, the worst thing you can do is lead by fear. I think, you know, because I've seen people like that. I was at another law firm and basically the idea was that, you know, people were always worried about failing and because when you're always worried about failing, you're not going to do as good a job you're going to, you're going to do things that you might not want to do. Whereas I think we take the approach, like we want everyone, we want to find a role for people and figure out what they're good at. We have like, like I have someone who works for me. He's, he's not going to ever be a partner. He doesn't want that. But he's a great, he's a great practitioner. That's, you know, we could say, you know, that's great. You do this, we'll find other people want to bring in the business. But, you know, there's roles, there's different roles for different types of people. As you said, some people aren't, they're not meant to go out and get business versus, you know, very being great practitioners or they don't want to lead.

[A]

Big teams over and so on. But we, we. I'm such a believer in what you're Saying is like 30 years ago, people led more by fear and yelling and stuff like that. In today's world, if you try and lead that way, people leave immediately.

[B]

Right?

[A]

There's no, there's.

[B]

Or they freeze. They're paraly. If you just tell people, I'm here to help you go do this. But I mean, mean at the bottom line, you have to do a good job. You have to be responsive. I mean, in our business, the worst thing you do is not be responsive and not, you know, and not care about what you're doing. And that's what I really bothers me when I see people who give me a product and I tell them this isn't good and they're not upset about it. Like, you should be upset about that.

[A]

Right?

[B]

And not that you, not that you're not the end of your career, but you want to, you want to take that, say, I don't want, I don't want that to happen again. I want, I want to make sure that I make this person happy with.

[A]

My work product 100%. Again, we're a huge believer in this thrive, thrive culture, that the organization thrives and the people thrive. And it's not a zero sum game that everybody thrives, that you're sort of building leadership where you thrive and people thrive.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And there's some constant overlap of what works for the firm and so forth. Today, again, we're recording at the McGuire Woods Healthcare Growth and Operations Conference. What a great pleasure to visit with Stephen Older, one of the great leaders at the firm. Just fantastic. Stephen, thank you so much for joining us.

[B]

Scott, always a pleasure.