NORTH AMERICA Winner...

JOHN C. KIRKLAND Managing Director of Ironridge Global Partners, LLC

USA COMPANY PROFILE

John C. Kirkland is Managing Director of Ironridge Global Partners, LLC, an investment fund focused on micro-cap public companies with significant growth potential.

John Kirkland practiced corporate securities law for over two decades, starting as an associate attorney at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, a white shoe Wall Street firm that is the oldest law firm in the United States, and led to running the securities practice at the Los Angeles office of Greenberg Traurig, one of the world’s largest law firms. He literally wrote the book on Securities law, penning “Practical Approaches to Securities Compliance Issues” in SEC Compliance Best Practices published by Thomson Reuters.

At the beginning of 2011, John Kirkland and three partners, Brendan O’Neil, Richard Kreger and Keith Coulston, founded Ironridge Global. Their first funding was a full shelf takedown for oncology company MEI Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEIP). Since then they have done over 70 deals for up to $25 million each, including over $15 million for solar product manufacturer Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASTI), nearly $5 million for Marley Coffee maker Jammin Java Corp. (OTCQB: JAMN), and over $1 million for vending machine company AVT, Inc. (Pink: AVTC). Ironridge Global is still a common stockholder of every portfolio company it has invested in since inception.

CEO INSIGHT... Q

How do you balance and manage various stakeholders’ interests?

At Ironridge we are completely passive investors, so all we can do is write the check and pray. We do not restrict use of proceeds, appoint people to the board, or even vote our shares.

We

rely entirely on management of the companies we invest in to effectuate their business plans. If they fail, we may lose everything. If they succeed, we can make a great return, along with all of the other common shareholders. A rising tide raises all ships.

Q

How do you compete in a recession?

The best thing that happens to us is when a great company gets into temporary trouble. We look for situations where throwing money at it can fix the problem, or where our funds can be a catalyst for growth. Or, better yet, explosive growth.

That said, we never try to time the market, but instead look for great businesses with outstanding management. We invested in biotechnology company Advaxis,

Inc. (Nasdaq: ADXS) in late December 2012, even though we were going into the tax selling season. Two months later, the stock was up over 450%. Over the long term, the stock market news will always be good.

Q

What advice do you give to rising CEOs?

Always do what you promise. The rest will take care of itself.

As investors, everything is always our fault. The company does not meet its numbers, does not make its filings, does not do anything they promised, that is all our fault. Particularly to floundering management or Internet trolls looking for someone to blame for their own bad decisions.

Conversely when, as a result of our investment, the company is able to succeed, we never seem to get much of the credit. But that is alright, we still get the return.

Q

What are the key challenges for a CEO?

Maybe it is the lawyer in me, but the one thing I never get used to is people who do not live up

John C. Kirkland, CEO of Ironridge Global Partners, LLC Email: jkirkland@ironridgeglobal.com l Website: www.ironridgeglobal.com 64 www.finance-monthly.com

to the agreement. I just do not understand people who try to get out of the deal or renegotiate after they have our money. What was fair before closing somehow becomes unfair afterward. Okay, so give us back the money. We will always do everything that we promised and more. If you do not do what you agreed, we will do whatever is necessary to ensure that you do.

If you do not intend to live up to the deal, we are not the right fit for you. If you do then we are the best financial partner you could ever have.

Q

Can you share with us a CEO humour?

Every CEO comes to us with hockey stick financial projections, that always go straight through the roof. Even though most startups fail and the future projections are completely unsupported by past results, they all say their numbers are incredibly conservative.

The

first person who comes to us and says, “These projections are wildly optimistic,” that is the one we will fund!

FINANCE MONTHLY CEO AWARDS 2014