In this episode of Capital Ideas, hosts Nick Morgan and Dara Albright sit down with Mark Hiraide—veteran securities attorney, former SEC enforcer, and the newest member of ICAN’s legal team.

Hiraide brings decades of experience in securities law and a front-row seat to the evolution of capital markets, from small-cap IPOs in the '90s to the JOBS Act and beyond. He discusses his hands-on work shaping California’s crowdfunding rules and his new role evaluating federal reforms aimed at expanding investor access and streamlining capital formation.

Highlights include: 

• Why the outdated treatment of “finders” is stifling startups—and how pending legislation could fix it

• What Congress is getting right (and wrong) in the next wave of JOBS Act-inspired reforms

• The promise and pitfalls of Reg A+ and efforts to unlock secondary markets

• How modernizing accredited investor rules could truly democratize investment

With bipartisan energy building on Capitol Hill, Hiraide lays out what’s at stake—and how ICAN plans to shape the future of market access.