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Mathias Ihlenfeld

Wall Street's 50-Year Monopoly Just Ended

Published about 1 month ago • 1 min read

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Lead with Focus - Mathias Ihlenfeld

For founders, executives, and creators who want to lead with vision, not noise

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Wall Street's 50-year monopoly just ended—and if you're scaling a Texas company, this changes everything about your future

For 50 years, if you wanted to take your company public, you had two choices: NYSE or NASDAQ. Both in New York. That ended September 30th when the Texas Stock Exchange got SEC approval, backed by BlackRock, Citadel, and Charles Schwab. Goldman Sachs is moving 5,000 employees to Dallas. JP Morgan already has more people in Texas than New York. This isn't about regional pride. This is about Texas becoming the epicenter of American capitalism—where capital, talent, infrastructure, and entrepreneurial culture are finally aligned. You don't have to leave Texas to build a world-class company anymore. You can stay here, scale here, and go public here.

Speaking of building in Texas:

Birthing of Giants: The Central Texas Cohort

For the first time, Birthing of Giants is launching a regional cohort in Central Texas—and I'm leading it.

If you're doing $5-100M and tired of advice from people who've never carried your weight, come to the info session on January 15, 2026. You'll see the frameworks, meet me and Lewis Schiff, and decide if this is your room.

Austin. Free. Reserve your spot

Why Am I Doing This?

When I bootstrapped woom bikes USA from $0 to $20M in revenue (and eventually led the combined $100M+ global business as CEO), nobody told me that the bigger your company gets, the more isolated you become.

The 3am math to see if payroll clears. The big decisions where the stakes couldn't be higher. Even with a great team, there were moments I felt like I was carrying the weight alone.

In 2021, I joined Birthing of Giants as a participant. It was a turning point. The frameworks helped, but what really changed everything was the cohort—being surrounded by fellow CEOs who were in the trenches, facing the same hard questions.

That experience made the lonely journey less lonely. And far more effective.

Now I'm bringing that to Central Texas.

I'm leading the Regional Cohort for Birthing of Giants—a selective fellowship for founders doing $5-100M in revenue who are serious about building enterprise value and scaling with clarity.

This isn't theory from coaches who studied the playbook. It's led by entrepreneurs who wrote it through hard-earned experience. We meet quarterly for structured sessions covering real frameworks for growth, capital strategy, and preparing for an exit.

Mathias Ihlenfeld (737-600-6142)

mathias.ihlenfeld@birthingofgiants.net

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Mathias Ihlenfeld

Entrepreneur, coach, and advisor. Helping founders and leaders reclaim clarity, build bold businesses, and live with purpose

My Mission: To inspire others to become the best version of themselves—through business and personal reflections, tools, and practices I actually use. This is for founders, leaders, and anyone creating a life with clarity, balance, and meaning.

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