When a microcap company CEO jokes that he and his executive colleagues, across the course of their careers at various ventures, have collectively sold $1 billion worth of products and services, it’s normal to want to hear the rest of what he/she has to say about the things they have up their sleeves.

Such was the case with Nathan Mazurek, the CEO, President and Chairman of the Board at Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPSI), when he joined us for a Fireside Chat on April 4, 2023. PPSI engages in the design, manufacture, integration, refurbishment, service and distribution of electric power systems, distributed energy resources, power generation equipment and mobile EV charging solutions for applications in the utility, industrial and commercial markets.

Before we get into a few of the details of our conversation with the CEO of PPSI, we want to make it clear that even though we had a prior instance of success investing in the stock, it’s been several years since we have followed the company in great depth and are just getting acclimated with the company’s new business model. Our current opinion is that PPSI is definitely worth keeping a close eye on due to a huge acceleration in revenue growth (and revenue growth guidance for 2023 of 50%), but we need to be convinced that the company has reached a point where it can operate profitably on a consistent basis.

I recently had a conversation with Bobby Kraft from Planet Microcap where we discussed what a Tier One Microcap is and announced the Planet Microcap Showcase in Las Vegas that will be taking place from April 25 to 27, 2023. I made it clear to Bobby that if he wanted me to attend this year he would have to carve out a Top Tier Track. We came to an agreement. 

On Wednesday, April 26, I will be moderating presentations by the management teams of Top Tier Microcap or those possibly on their way to meeting the requirements indicative of top tier companies

We plan to give  each company the floor for 10-15 minutes, followed by a Q&A for a live audience. 

The management teams from the following companies within our coverage universe will be presenting…

As far back as I can remember, I put an outsized focus on special situation stock investing because I knew that in some instances, the rewards I could reap from certain outlier circumstances would be worth the research. And it just made investing more fun than a standard value investing approach.

I originally used a written list that laid out a framework for what I was looking for on a daily basis across press releases and Security Exchange Commission (SEC) filings at SEC.gov. Yes, written… Remember I am old!

Later, when I started Geoinvesting, each member of my team had a physical printout of the list so it could be readily visible as an outsized 8.5 x 11 inch post-it note.

Regardless of what position one held at Geo, I made sure that each team member was exposed to the our research process to some degree, with the aid of checklists, even if the list became pinned underneath a paperweight, taped to one of the many whiteboards I had floating on each wall when we used to work in “offices”, or handed back and forth between my colleagues if one went missing prior to a new printout.

When you think of individuals such Carl Icahn, Ronald O. Perelman and Nelson Peltz, you might think of their knack for business acumen, successful fund management and even philanthropy. However, there is one aspect of these personalities’ exploits that might get overshadowed by the overarching themes of their achievements – a specialty in turning businesses around.  

The reason it is a specialty is because not everyone has the means or frankly, the guts, to put plans in place to take a failing company and turn it around. 

Last week’s foray into the world of executives and portfolio managers at activist fund 180 Degree Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:TURN), Kevin Rendino (CEO) and Daniel Wolfe (President), touched on the reasons why companies consider and ultimately agree to shift the innards of their businesses around. In the end, it really comes down to making them attractive enough for investors to put their money into. We’d suggest that you catch up with that column after reading what we have lined up today.

So, speaking of turnaround specialists, we wanted to bring attention to a few famous ones who excelled at buying or taking a stake in underperforming or struggling companies to help them achieve profitability in various ways. 

We’ll touch upon notable investments made by the turnaround specialist investors above.