Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock over the past year or perhaps docked at the International Space Station, it’s been impossible to miss the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) craze that has overtaken Wall Street.

This year alone, as of October 30, 169 SPAC IPOs have raised a total of $59.5 billion, compared to $13.5 billion raised by 59 SPAC IPOs in all of 2019. For perspective, the 169 SPACs raised in the first 10 months of the year nearly match the 172 raised from 2015 to 2019.

I came to appreciate the SPAC as a valuable and advantaged funding mechanism for ambitious companies who are in the midst of a growth phase-change.