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Statement

Remarks at The SEC Speaks in 2026: From Kitchen Table to Cap Table—Making Capital Formation Work for Small Businesses

Jenny Riegel, Deputy Director, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation

Amy Reischauer, Deputy Director, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation

SEC Speaks Washington D.C.

March 20, 2026

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for the opportunity to join you today and speak about something profoundly practical: how small businesses raise capital—and how we’d like your help in simplifying and improving that journey.

Before we explore that, though, let me note that we are providing our remarks today in our official capacities as the Deputy Directors of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission"), the Commissioners, or other members of the Commission Staff.

Turning back to small businesses, every great business starts with an idea—maybe it’s at a kitchen table, scribbles on a napkin, a phone call to a friend who may become a first investor, or a community seeking to tackle a common problem. Our job in the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is to make that journey—from that proverbial kitchen table to the cap table—understandable and navigable.

Why Voices Matter | “Listen → Learn → Improve”

We like to frame our work with a simple loop: Listen → Learn → Improve. We listen to founders, their investors, and the advisors and ecosystem builders that support them; we learn what’s happening in the market and how different companies, investors, and geographic areas are affected by our rules; and we work to improve things for small businesses by sharing that feedback with policy makers to enhance capital-raising pathways and by incorporating those insights into education and further outreach.

Our Office was established by Congress to advance the interests of small businesses—from early-stage companies to smaller public companies—and their investors at the SEC and in the capital markets. That charge includes engaging with the public to share educational resources and identify and understand capital–raising challenges. That essential feedback informs everything we do, including: (1) analyzing the potential impact of rules on small business capital formation; (2) working with small businesses and their investors to help problem-solve; (3) supporting the Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee; (4) organizing the SEC’s annual Small Business Forum; and (5) preparing an annual report to the Commission and Congress on the state of small business capital formation.

Why is the work of this Office so important? Because small businesses are critical to the U.S. economy, job creation, and innovation. Entrepreneurship is a formidable engine of growth, and access to capital is a national priority. Our mission is to help small businesses and their investors navigate our regulatory landscape to raise capital to fuel that engine.

What We’re Hearing—and How It Informs Our Work

From North Carolina to California, from Montana to Arkansas, the feedback we gather helps inform policy by allowing us to bring market perspectives to discussions with the Commission and the rule‑writing divisions. We listen in places where capital is scarce and ambition is abundant—because rules should fit the realities of the people who use them.

This ongoing loop—listen, learn, improve—anchors our mission.

Tools that Guide from Complexity to Clarity

A question for the crowd: Who here has struggled to pinpoint the right pathway for a client—or help them understand the steps to use it? That’s exactly why we built a suite of small business-friendly tools to help.

A military veteran building a manufacturing startup in rural America; a community member considering investing in a local emerging fund; an angel investor mentoring in a historically underserved neighborhood. These are just a few examples of the small businesses and investors our Office has engaged with and who make up part of the 36.2 million U.S. small businesses that are essential to job creation and innovation across the country. [1] We are proud to be part of the ecosystem that fuels this formidable engine of growth. That’s why access to capital is a national issue—not a niche concern.

When entrepreneurs face capital-raising questions, they shouldn’t need to be experts in securities laws to find their next step. They should have access to resources and advisors to help answer their questions and help them get from complexity to clarity. Our Office is here to help educate and guide them to appropriate resources—resources even their advisors may find useful in helping them prepare to raise capital.

Think of the capital formation journey as a trail. The trailhead is our Resources for Small Businesses page—a central portal that organizes resources across phases of the journey. Encourage your clients and communities to bookmark it.

Here’s a quick tour:

• The Funding Roadmap is a printable overview mapping financing choices from personal savings to grants and loans, to raising capital from investors, and explaining where securities laws enter the picture.
• Navigate Your Options is an interactive “choose-your-adventure” tool that identifies potentially relevant regulatory pathways based on basic questions about the business. This tool is great for first‑time founders and for advisors triaging options.
• Our Glossary includes plain‑English definitions for many of the terms founders and investors encounter, including foundational terminology and specific investing- and fund-related terminology—along with shortcuts to additional resources for those—like lawyers!—looking to dig deeper.
• Building Blocks are one‑page explainers on fundamentals—like accredited investors, general solicitation, private funds, exits and liquidity, consequences of non‑compliance, and more—with new topics added and printable versions to share widely.
• For those looking for a deeper dive, check out Exempt Offerings and Going Public pages, which provide additional information for teams preparing for specific exempt pathways or those considering an IPO or wanting to learn more about public company obligations.
• Finally, check out our educational videos. Our Let’s Talk Small Business series includes short interviews with entrepreneurs, investors, and ecosystem builders who provide tips and share insights into a variety of small business topics. Our Rulemaking Videos summarize new and proposed rules that may affect small businesses and explain how to comment to share your perspective. Our tools meet audiences where they are. They help small businesses navigate—and help their advisors guide them—from complexity to clarity.  These tools exist to make the language and logistics of capital raising more accessible to founders, investors, and the advisors who support them.

Closing the Loop | A Direct Call to Advisors and Lawyers

At this point, you may be asking how our Office’s mission and resources relate to you and your work. Where do you fit into our listen-learn-improve plan? Advisors and counsel are closest to what’s working—and where friction lives. You play a critical role for countless businesses, investors, and ecosystem builders.

We hope our resources help you to empower your clients and communities to make the best use of your time and guidance—a way for them to research, reference, and reinforce the valuable advice you have to offer. And we do apologize if this means fewer billable hours.

We also welcome your feedback, comment letters, and recommendations to help the Commission better understand the issues you see and think creatively to arrive at innovative and market-driven solutions. The Commission considers, values, and appreciates public feedback and perspectives in all of its policy initiatives; your voice belongs in that discussion!

Let us end where we began—with the journey from kitchen table to cap table. Every founder’s path should be understandable, navigable, and shaped by real-world feedback.

With that in mind, here are three actions you can take now:

1. Help companies, investors, and other advisors discover the Resources for Small Businesses page **** and its tools so more small businesses reach the right guidance earlier.
2. Identify areas where more resources and tools are needed to support small businesses and their investors. Are there common misconceptions? Areas where the rules are confusing for clients?  Let us know how we can help you and your clients and communities.
3. Participate in the discussion and encourage clients to share their perspectives. Whether it’s at the SEC’s annual Small Business Forum, a Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee meeting, a policy roundtable discussion, or open comment file, help us improve by sharing your experiences, highlighting what is working, and identifying where changes are needed. Your work and expertise across the market is a data set. When you share feedback and submit comments—grounded in client experiences—you help us see where compliance bites harder than intended and where clarity could unlock responsible capital. As you advise and counsel clients, don’t just interpret the rules— improve them. Tell us what you are seeing and be part of improving the market and the regulatory landscape.

Together, we can make the capital formation marketplace work better for everyone. Thank you for partnering with us to listen, learn, and improve.

[1] SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, “Staff Report for Fiscal Year 2025” (2026) at p. 4.

Last Reviewed or Updated: March 20, 2026