What misconception do people outside of your industry hold about it?

I think the most common misconception is you have to be big. You don’t need to be a very large company to acquire another or go public. Both become easier with scale, but are possible even for smaller firms. There are ways to use leverage or deferred payments for acquisitions. There are ways to bolt onto a public company and get the benefits of being a publicly traded company like acquiring with shares instead of cash, or access to larger contracts and better pricing. Any small firm CEO can start building his dream company today using these strategies.