Vested is a leading NYC financial communications agency, flagship of Group Vested. Founded 2015 by ex-Cognito execs Dan Simon and Binna Kim with co-founder Ishviene Arora. $23.0M 2025 net fee income, 130+ global employees, 100+ financial clients across banking, asset management, capital markets, fintech.
Pre-IPO reputation hardening is a 12-month operation. Most teams start at month two. Companies preparing for IPO face a structural reputation transition. The pre-filing private-company communications operation gets reshaped into the post-filing public-company communications operation across roughly 12 months.
Strategy (renamed from MicroStrategy Feb 2025) holds ~600,000 BTC. Nasdaq 100 inclusion Dec 2024. Marathon, Metaplanet, Semler Scientific, Tesla residual, Block ~8K BTC. The Bitcoin treasury company casebook — named operators, holdings, mNAV math, capital strategy stack.
The FTX collapse, from a $32 billion valuation to bankruptcy in ten days, offers a profound study in communications failure. This article analyzes the crucial missteps in FTX's public messaging, the impact of Sam Bankman-Fried's statements, and the lasting lessons for crisis communication and legal alignment.
Roland Rudd founded Finsbury in 1994, sold to WPP for ~£40M in 2001, engineered its restructuring into FGS Global, chaired Britain Stronger in Europe and People's Vote, and co-founded Tortoise Media — which acquired The Observer in 2024. The Architects-tier case for the PR founder who builds beyond the firm.
Brunswick Group is the global partner-led strategic advisory firm — M&A, financial, crisis, geopolitics. Founded 1987 in London by Alan Parker, Louise Charlton, and Andrew Fenwick. 27 offices, 220 partners, ~$324M in 2026 revenue. Henry Timms is CEO. BDT & MSD Partners minority investor since 2021.
Originally published January 2009 on AdvanceMe's MarCom Gold Award. Preserved as EPR's reference on the small business financial communications discipline, the subsequent CAN Capital rebrand and restructuring, the broader merchant cash advance category evolution, and the MarCom Awards communications industry framework.