In this episode of Multiple Perspectives, host Daniel Brereton sits down with Christopher Lustrino, CEO and founder of KingsCrowd, to explore how private market investing is becoming more accessible to everyday investors. They discuss the shift from exclusive venture deals to digital platforms, uncovering the untapped potential of middle-market companies and the rise of secondary markets for liquidity. With a data-driven framework for evaluating early-stage investments, the conversation offers valuable insights into building a diversified private market portfolio that complements traditional investments.

Chris Lustrino is the CEO and founder of KingsCrowd, a pioneering platform in private market investment research and analytics. With a background in private equity and due diligence, he transformed his expertise into a comprehensive solution for retail investors seeking access to private market opportunities. Under his leadership, KingsCrowd has attracted over 4,000 investors, raised nearly $7 million in funding, and developed sophisticated rating algorithms to evaluate private market investments. His work in democratizing private market access and creating transparency through data-driven analysis has established him as a thought leader in the alternative investment space.

Chris Lustrino reveals how the post-2008 financing gap has created compelling opportunities in middle-market companies that fall between traditional venture capital and private equity targets. For wealth managers and high-earning professionals, these companies represent an attractive investment segment, often generating $2-300M in revenue with proven business models and lower risk profiles than early-stage startups. Market inefficiency exists because these companies are too small for institutional investors and too large for retail investors to access directly. KingsCrowd's platform enables access to these opportunities, where investors can potentially generate 5-20x returns by investing in companies at $2M revenue that could exit at $30-40M valuations.

With $13 trillion in annual private market transactions, Chris explains how digitization revolutionizes access to previously exclusive investment opportunities. This shift creates unprecedented opportunities for wealth managers and financial advisors to expose their clients to private market investments through digital-first platforms. The emergence of 60-80 regulated crowdfunding platforms, dozens of real estate platforms, and specialized investment marketplaces demonstrates the market's evolution toward greater accessibility.

Chris outlines KingsCrowd's comprehensive approach to evaluating private market opportunities using comparative analysis of similarly staged companies. Their methodology examines key metrics, including valuation multiples, burn rates, market size, team experience, and gross margins, to provide sophisticated investors with a standardized evaluation framework. High-rated companies on their 1-5 scale demonstrate stronger performance, with companies rated 4.0 and above showing promising fundamentals and risk profiles. The systematic approach enables wealth managers and investment professionals to conduct efficient due diligence across hundreds of opportunities.