Forge Global Holdings Inc (FRGE) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Emma, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Forge Global second-quarter 2023 financial results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Thank you. Dominic Paschel, you may begin your conference.

午安.我叫艾瑪，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此刻，我歡迎大家參加 Forge Global 2023 年第二季財務業績電話會議。所有線路均已靜音，以防止任何背景噪音。演講者發言後，將進行問答環節。 （操作員說明）謝謝。多明尼克·帕舍爾，您可以開始會議了。

Thank you, Emma, and thank you all for joining us today for Forge's second-quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me today are Kelly Rodriquez, for the CEO; and Mark Lee, for the CFO. They will share prepared remarks regarding the quarter's results, and they will take your questions at the end.

謝謝艾瑪，也謝謝大家今天加入我們參加 Forge 的 2023 年第二季財報電話會議。今天加入我的是執行長凱利·羅德里克斯 (Kelly Rodriquez)；馬克李 (Mark Lee) 擔任財務長。他們將分享有關本季業績的準備好的評論，並在最後回答您的問題。

Just after market closed today, we issued a press release announcing for the second-quarter 2023 financial results. In discussion of our results today, is complementary to the press release, which is available on the IR page of forge.com. This conference call is being webcast live, and will be available for 30 days to replay. Beginning about one hour after the conclusion of this call, there will also be an accompanying investor supplemental PDF on our IR page.

今天收盤後，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布 2023 年第二季財務業績。今天討論的結果是對新聞稿的補充，該新聞稿可在 forge.com 的 IR 頁面上找到。本次電話會議正在進行網路直播，並可在 30 天內重播。從本次電話會議結束後約一小時開始，我們的 IR 頁面上也將提供隨附的投資者補充 PDF。

During this conference call, we may make forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts, and projections as of today's date. Any forward-looking statements that we make are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those included in the statements. We discussed these factors in our SEC filings, including our quarterly report on Form 10-Q, which came out a few minutes ago. As a reminder, we are not required to update our forward-looking statements.

在本次電話會議期間，我們可能會根據截至今天的當前預期、預測和預測做出前瞻性聲明。我們所做的任何前瞻性陳述都受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，並且存在一些重要因素可能導致實際結果與陳述中包含的結果有重大差異。我們在 SEC 文件中討論了這些因素，包括幾分鐘前發布的 10-Q 表格季度報告。提醒一下，我們不需要更新我們的前瞻性陳述。

In our presentation today, unless otherwise noted, we will be discussing adjusted financial measures, which are non-GAAP measures that we believe are meaningful when evaluating Forge's performance. For detailed disclosures on these measures and GAAP reconciliations, you should refer to the financial data contained within our press release, which is also posted on the IR page. Additionally, we have posted our second-quarter supplemental information on the same page as I mentioned. Today's discussion will focus on the second quarter of 2023. As always, we encourage you to evaluate both the annual and quarterly results for a full picture of Forge's performance. With that, I'll turn it over to Kelly.

在今天的演講中，除非另有說明，否則我們將討論調整後的財務指標，這些指標是我們認為在評估 Forge 業績時有意義的非公認會計準則指標。有關這些措施和 GAAP 調整的詳細揭露，您應該參閱我們的新聞稿中包含的財務數據，該新聞稿也發佈在 IR 頁面上。此外，正如我所提到的，我們已在同一頁上發布了第二季的補充資訊。今天的討論將重點放在 2023 年第二季。一如既往，我們鼓勵您評估年度和季度業績，以全面了解 Forge 的業績。有了這個，我會把它交給凱利。

Thank you, Dom, and thanks, everybody, for joining. Just like in past quarters, we'll talk about some of the highlights from Q2 and then Mark will give you a deeper dive into our financials from the quarter. We'll close with some insight into how the private market asset class is performing. But first, just a quick reminder of why Forge is here and what we're trying to do.

謝謝你，Dom，也謝謝大家的加入。就像過去幾個季度一樣，我們將討論第二季度的一些亮點，然後馬克將讓您更深入地了解我們本季度的財務狀況。最後，我們將深入了解私募市場資產類別的表現。但首先，請快速提醒一下 Forge 為何存在以及我們正在努力做什麼。

There is an inevitable opportunity before us. Thousands of technology companies with a potential for high growth are heads down right now, solving some of the world's most challenging problems. They are creating the technologies of tomorrow: artificial intelligence and satellite networks and rockets to Mars and the food made from air, technologies that are helping cure or prevent disease, and that are changing the way we work and how efficiently and effectively all of us can do our jobs. These disruptive technologies take time to create.

我們面前有一個不可避免的機會。數以千計具有高速成長潛力的科技公司目前正在埋頭解決世界上一些最具挑戰性的問題。他們正在創造未來的技術：人工智慧、衛星網路、飛往火星的火箭和空氣製成的食品，這些技術有助於治療或預防疾病，並且正在改變我們的工作方式以及我們所有人的效率和效果。做好我們的工作。這些顛覆性技術的創造需要時間。

The investors are just clamoring for exposure to these world-changing companies, they want regular access. They want to dedicate portions of their total portfolios and want to participate in wholly new financial products that track private market performance. Forge was created at the center of all those once the opaque, inefficient, and illiquid market, to bring our own disruptive technology to bear to transform the private market. And even through challenging market conditions over the past cycle, we've made progress in doing the difficult work to push this asset class forward through our data investors, including institutions, have new information and new access to insights that are helping them time their market re-entry and plan for the long-term.

投資人只是呼籲接觸這些改變世界的公司，他們希望定期接觸。他們希望投入全部投資組合的一部分，並希望參與追蹤私人市場表現的全新金融產品。 Forge 是在那些曾經不透明、低效率且缺乏流動性的市場的中心創建的，旨在利用我們自己的顛覆性技術來改變私人市場。即使在過去的周期中充滿挑戰的市場條件下，我們仍然在透過我們的數據推動這一資產類別向前發展的艱鉅工作中取得了進展，包括機構在內的投資者獲得了新的資訊和新的見解，幫助他們把握市場時機重新進入並製定長期計劃。

The Forge Private Market Index, which tracks the performance of the 75 most liquid names in the private market is providing new insight and transparency. It is the blueprint on which new innovations are possible and on which new financial products will be built. We've worked to position Forge at the center of the private market ecosystem, with the technology data expertise and network that will allow us to capture more of the pent-up demand from existing and wholly new audiences as private market activity continues to expand and as the market continues to reset.

Forge 私募市場指數追蹤私募市場 75 個流動性最強的公司的表現，提供了新的洞察力和透明度。它是新的創新成為可能、新的金融產品得以建構的藍圖。我們致力於將Forge 定位在私募市場生態系統的中心，憑藉技術數據專業知識和網絡，隨著私募市場活動的不斷擴大和擴大，我們能夠從現有受眾和全新受眾中捕獲更多被壓抑的需求。隨著市場繼續重置。

So with that, let's get into some of the financial and business highlights from the second quarter. In Q2, Forge's total revenue less transaction-based expenses was up 8% to $16.6 million from $15.5 million in Q1. Placement fee revenue, less transaction-based expenses from Forge in Q2 improved for the first time in six quarters, up 22% to $5.6 million compared to Q1. This was due to slightly improving market conditions that benefited our markets business.

那麼，讓我們來看看第二季的一些財務和業務亮點。第二季度，Forge 的總收入減去基於交易的費用，從第一季的 1,550 萬美元成長 8%，達到 1,660 萬美元。第二季 Forge 的安置費收入（扣除基於交易的費用）六個季度以來首次有所改善，與第一季相比增長 22% 至 560 萬美元。這是由於市場狀況略有改善，這有利於我們的市場業務。

And while we cannot predict the future, we view this as a positive indicator that the private markets may have troughed and will need to see more of a trend before drawing absolute conclusions. Another encouraging indicator was the rise in transaction volume, which increased 20% to $153.2 million in Q2. Forge's adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed in the second quarter to $11.8 million, better than last quarter's loss of $13 million and a $12.3 million loss in Q2 last year. This reflects revenue growth and the disciplined and deliberate cost management strategy, including intentional cost-cutting enacted in prior quarters.

雖然我們無法預測未來，但我們認為這是一個積極的指標，表明私募市場可能已經觸底，在得出絕對結論之前需要看到更多的趨勢。另一個令人鼓舞的指標是交易量的成長，第二季交易量成長了 20% 至 1.532 億美元。 Forge 在第二季調整後 EBITDA 虧損收窄至 1,180 萬美元，優於上一季虧損 1,300 萬美元及去年第二季虧損 1,230 萬美元。這反映了收入成長以及嚴格且深思熟慮的成本管理策略，包括前幾季實施的有意削減成本。

This cost discipline has extended into the third quarter, and we are reiterating our commitment to lowering our burn for '23 and for 2024. Mark will talk more about this in his section. Custody administration fees for the seventh straight quarter continued to rise to $11 million in Q2, benefiting again from a higher interest rate environment. In addition to our financial highlights for the quarter, Forge was added to the Russell 2000 as part of the indexes annual reconstitution, which helps to validate our business as a category leader.

這種成本紀律已延續到第三季度，我們重申我們致力於降低 23 年和 2024 年的消耗。Mark 將在他的部分中詳細討論這一點。第二季託管管理費連續第七個季度繼續上漲至 1,100 萬美元，再次受益於較高的利率環境。除了本季的財務亮點外，Forge 還作為指數年度重組的一部分被添加到 Russell 2000 指數中，這有助於驗證我們作為類別領導者的業務。

Finally, in our ongoing effort to drive deeper engagement and provide more value to institutional investors, in July, we launched the Forge's investment outlook. This is a new quarterly content franchise from Forge that contains institutional-grade research designed to help the most advanced investors understand and go deeper into this market. It demonstrates the new level of transparency we are bringing to the private market and showcases data that we believe sheds new light on private market performance. With that, let me turn it over to Mark.

最後，為了推動更深入的參與並為機構投資者提供更多價值，我們在 7 月推出了 Forge 的投資前景。這是 Forge 推出的新季度內容專營權，其中包含機構級研究，旨在幫助最先進的投資者了解並深入了解這個市場。它展示了我們為私募市場帶來的新的透明度水平，並展示了我們認為可以為私募市場表現提供新視角的數據。那麼，讓我把它交給馬克。

Thank you, Kelly. In Q2, Forge's total revenue, less transaction-based expenses totaled $16.6 million, up 8% from $15.5 million last quarter. This increase was largely driven by placement fee revenue. Total placement fee revenues, less transaction base expenses reached $5.6 million, up 22% from $4.6 million last quarter.

謝謝你，凱利。第二季度，扣除交易費用後，Forge 的總收入總計 1,660 萬美元，比上季度的 1,550 萬美元增加 8%。這一增長主要是由安置費收入推動的。減去交易基礎費用後的安置費總收入達到 560 萬美元，比上季的 460 萬美元增加 22%。

Transaction volume for the quarter increased 20% to $153.2 million in Q2, while our overall net take rate increased from 3.6% last quarter to 3.7% in Q2, which is slightly higher than our historical averages. Total custodial administration fees rose 1% in Q2 to $11 million, up from $10.8 million last quarter and up 93% year-over-year. Our custodial business continues to provide stability and balance to our revenue streams, particularly through uncertain macroeconomics periods. Forge's custodial cash balance is totaled $550 million at the end of Q2, down from $574 million at the end of last quarter.

第二季的交易量成長了 20%，達到 1.532 億美元，而我們的整體淨交易率從上季的 3.6% 成長到第二季的 3.7%，略高於我們的歷史平均水準。第二季託管管理費總額成長 1%，達到 1,100 萬美元，高於上季的 1,080 萬美元，年增 93%。我們的託管業務繼續為我們的收入流提供穩定性和平衡，特別是在不確定的宏觀經濟時期。截至第二季末，Forge 的託管現金餘額總計 5.5 億美元，低於上季末的 5.74 億美元。

We believe this decline is primarily driven by cash sorting and search for yield. This decrease was more than offset by the increase in the Fed funds rate and our cash administration fees. Forge's custody accounts totaled $2 million in Q2, essentially flat from last quarter. Assets under custody were $15.3 billion at the end of Q2 versus $14.8 billion last quarter, an increase of 3%.

我們認為，這種下降主要是由現金分類和尋求收益所驅動的。這一下降被聯邦基金利率和現金管理費的上漲所抵消。第二季 Forge 的託管帳戶總額為 200 萬美元，與上季基本持平。第二季末託管資產為 153 億美元，較上季的 148 億美元成長 3%。

Total headcount was 358 at the end of June. Kelly highlighted our commitment to reducing our burn rate. And as such, further cost reduction actions were taken in the current third-quarter, bringing headcount down to 339, down from 349 at the start of the year. Second quarter net loss increased to $25.1 million compared to $21.3 million last quarter. This change is driven by an increase of $6.4 million in non-cash expense, going from $9.7 million in Q1 to $16.2 million in Q2.

截至 6 月底，總人數為 358 人。凱利強調了我們對降低資金消耗率的承諾。因此，第三季採取了進一步的成本削減措施，員工人數從年初的 349 人減少到 339 人。第二季淨虧損從上一季的 2,130 萬美元增至 2,510 萬美元。這一變化是由於非現金支出增加了 640 萬美元，從第一季的 970 萬美元增加到第二季的 1,620 萬美元。

This includes shares-based compensation and an increase in the fair value of our warrant liabilities due to a rising share price. In the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA loss improved to $11.8 million compared to a loss of $13 million last quarter, driven by improved revenues and tight cost controls. Net cash used in operating activities was $13.6 million in the quarter, an improvement compared to net cash used in operating activities of $17.7 million last quarter. As a reminder, the first-half of our fiscal years include timing-driven cash flows, such as payout of our annual bonuses and payment of annual corporate insurance premiums, which will not recur in the second-half of 2023.

這包括基於股票的薪酬以及由於股價上漲而導致的認股權證負債公允價值的增加。在營收改善和嚴格成本控制的推動下，第二季調整後 EBITDA 虧損從上一季的虧損 1,300 萬美元改善至 1,180 萬美元。本季經營活動使用的現金淨額為 1,360 萬美元，較上季度經營活動使用的現金淨額 1,770 萬美元有所改善。需要提醒的是，我們的上半年財政年度包括時間驅動的現金流，例如支付年度獎金和支付年度企業保險費，這些現金流在 2023 年下半年不會再發生。

Our corporate cash and cash equivalents, including term deposits in excess of 90 days, ended the quarter at approximately $162.2 million compared to $175.3 million last quarter. From a housekeeping perspective, our weighted average basic number of shares used to compute net loss was 173 million shares, and our fully diluted outstanding share count as of June 30 was 199 million shares. For Q3, we estimate a 173 million weighted average basic common shares for EPS modeling purposes. Historically, there is an inherent summer seasonality, which tends to result in lower third-quarter trading volumes, similar to what you see across Wall Street.

本季末，我們的企業現金和現金等價物（包括超過 90 天的定期存款）約為 1.622 億美元，而上季為 1.753 億美元。從內務管理的角度來看，我們用來計算淨虧損的加權平均基本股數量為1.73億股，截至6月30日的完全稀釋流通股數為1.99億股。對於第三季度，出於 EPS 建模目的，我們估計加權平均基本普通股為 1.73 億股。從歷史上看，存在固有的夏季季節性，這往往會導致第三季交易量下降，類似於你在華爾街看到的情況。

However, based on the visibility that we have at this point in the quarter, we believe, third quarter volumes will equal or slightly exceed that of Q2, which is a positive indicator relative to historical trends. So in summary, we continue to monitor the state of the markets and actively manage our cost structure. Forge remains committed to lowering our overall use of cash in 2023 and to being good stewards of our capital. I'll hand it back to Kelly for a brief private market overview before we turn it over for questions.

然而，根據本季目前的情況，我們認為第三季的銷售量將等於或略高於第二季度，這相對於歷史趨勢來說是一個正面的指標。總而言之，我們將繼續監控市場狀況並積極管理我們的成本結構。 Forge 仍然致力於在 2023 年降低我們的整體現金使用量，並做好我們的資本管家。在我們將其轉交提問之前，我會將其交還給凱利，以獲取簡短的私人市場概述。

Thank you. And as Mark said, we'll continue to monitor costs, we're on track with our commitment to lower our cash use and taken intentional and thoughtful measures to reduce costs as we remain focused on lean growth. Meanwhile, there are reasons to feel encouraged that the market may be warming. For example, we closed 46% more trades in Q2 than in Q1, and the number of issues we transacted in was up by 25% quarter-over-quarter.

謝謝。正如馬克所說，我們將繼續監控成本，我們正在履行減少現金使用的承諾，並在我們繼續專注於精益成長的同時，採取有意識和深思熟慮的措施來降低成本。同時，我們有理由對市場可能變暖感到鼓舞。例如，我們第二季的成交量比第一季多了 46%，交易數量較上季增加了 25%。

Looking at the overall market trends, we believe the market is working through what we call the great reset, a mass revaluation that is pressuring companies to adopt lean growth and prioritize profitability. In this era of the great reset, our data is showing the company's valuations today are closer to their second-to-last funding round than to their most recent funding rounds. In our Q2 private market update, we reported that median trade prices for companies trading on the Forge Platform implied valuations 5% below the company's second-to-last primary funding rounds and about 51% below their most recent funding round.

縱觀整體市場趨勢，我們認為市場正在經歷所謂的“大重置”，即大規模的價值重估，迫使企業採用精益增長並優先考慮盈利能力。在這個大重置的時代，我們的數據顯示，該公司今天的估值更接近倒數第二輪融資，而不是最近幾輪融資。在第二季私人市場更新中，我們報告稱，在Forge 平台上交易的公司的交易價格中位數意味著其估值比該公司倒數第二輪主要融資輪低5%，比最近一輪融資低約51%。

Some companies have recognized this valuation reset publicly, writing down their valuations to set investor expectations and prepare for their next capital raise or exit. For many others, that recognition won't come unless and until they need to raise a new round of primary funds. Many companies continue to delay new primary rounds, but at the time stamp between their last primary extends to an average of 20 months, the pent-up demand for liquidity from employees and investors only grows. While still only a handful of unicorns have waded into the public market waters, the reception to those who have has demonstrated enthusiastic investor demand for public investment opportunities, which could encourage more large unicorns to seek public exits.

一些公司已公開承認此估值重置，並減記其估值以設定投資者預期並為下一次融資或退出做好準備。對於許多其他人來說，除非他們需要籌集新一輪的主要資金，否則這種認可不會到來。許多公司繼續推遲新一輪初選，但上一次初選之間的時間間隔平均延長至 20 個月，員工和投資者對流動性的壓抑需求只會增加。儘管仍然只有少數獨角獸企業涉足公開市場，但對這些企業的歡迎已經表明投資者對公共投資機會的熱情需求，這可能會鼓勵更多大型獨角獸尋求公開退出。

Investors have, in past cycles, shown they are motivated by signs of impending exits to get into the private market to invest early. But Wall Street Journal headline recently on July 24 captured that sentiment, we are seeing FOMO drives investors, as IPO market awakens from long slumber. Signs that investors have worried about missing the bottom are good for Forge, even as the lead lag in the private versus public market persists. And while we've noted positive momentum in some of the major public indices, the Forge Private Market Index is down 17% for the year through the end of Q2.

在過去的周期中，投資者已經表明，他們受到即將退出的跡象的激勵，會儘早進入私人市場進行投資。但《華爾街日報》最近 7 月 24 日的頭條新聞捕捉到了這種情緒，我們看到，隨著 IPO 市場從長期沉睡中醒來，FOMO 驅動著投資者。儘管私人市場與公開市場的領先優勢仍然存在，但投資者擔心錯過底部的跡象對 Forge 來說是件好事。儘管我們注意到一些主要公共指數的積極勢頭，但截至第二季末，Forge 私人市場指數全年下跌了 17%。

However, for the three-month period ending in July, the Forge Private Market Index remained flat. That's the first three-month period where the index performance did not decline since the market turned at the beginning of 2022. We've also noted a narrowing of the bid-ask spread on the Forge Platform from 30% in April to between 17% and 18% in May and June. Through the end of July, we saw the bid-ask spread narrowed further to 15%. That's a positive signal that buyers and sellers are getting closer on price and perhaps that some investors believe they've reached the bottom.

然而，在截至 7 月的三個月期間，Forge 私人市場指數保持穩定。這是自 2022 年初市場轉向以來，該指數表現首次出現未下滑的三個月。我們還注意到 Forge 平台上的買賣價差從 4 月的 30% 縮小至 17% 5 月和 6 月為 18%。到7月底，我們看到買賣價差進一步收窄至15%。這是一個積極的信號，表明買家和賣家的價格越來越接近，也許一些投資者認為他們已經觸底。

We've also seen elevated right of first refusal or ROFR rates continue; meaning, existing investors at these companies are seeing prices that sellers are agreeing to as attractive. In closing, we are feeling some momentum in the interest and activity on the platform. And as Mark mentioned, based on what we can see so far in the quarter, we expect third-quarter markets results to come in on par or better than the second quarter. As the market reawaken, we are continuing to invest in our disruptive technology and data offerings, and to exercise lean growth as we look forward to continuing our positive momentum. Thank you, and back to Dom.

我們也看到優先購買權或 ROFR 率持續上升；這意味著，這些公司的現有投資者認為賣家同意的價格具有吸引力。最後，我們感受到了平台上的興趣和活動的一些動力。正如馬克所提到的，根據我們在本季迄今所看到的情況，我們預計第三季的市場業績將與第二季持平或更好。隨著市場的復甦，我們將繼續投資於我們的顛覆性技術和數據產品，並實現精益成長，因為我們期待繼續保持積極的勢頭。謝謝你，回到Dom。

Thank you, Kelly. With that, Emma, can we please open to questions from the line.

謝謝你，凱利。艾瑪，我們可以接受電話中的問題嗎？

(Operator Instructions) Owen Lau, Oppenheimer.

（操作員說明）Owen Lau，Oppenheimer。

Hey, good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. So for public markets, I think many people or some people would say we are past the worst time for private markets. Kelly, you just mentioned that the private market has probably troughed, but you still have some reservations. So what are the potential wildcards that can derail these trends? Thank you.

嘿，下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。所以對於公開市場來說，我想很多人或有些人會說我們已經過了私募市場最糟糕的時期。凱利，您剛才提到私募市場可能已經觸底，但您仍然有一些保留。那麼，有哪些潛在的通配符可能會破壞這些趨勢呢？謝謝。

I'm sorry. Could you repeat, what are the potential, what?

對不起。您能再說一遍，潛力是什麼？

Like potential reasons that can derail these trend? Any potential reason that you would see this recovery may not materialize?

喜歡可能破壞這些趨勢的潛在原因嗎？您認為這種復甦可能不會實現的潛在原因是什麼？

Well, I'll start and Mark, you can jump in. I mean, I think what we've been watching for the last year and a half are big macroeconomic trends in the world, and we'll continue to watch those. But clearly, the private markets take longer. And so what I think you're seeing is you're seeing the reaction finally coming to the private markets that have been present in public pricing and public markets for a while.

好吧，我開始了，馬克，你可以插話了。我的意思是，我認為我們過去一年半以來一直在關注的是世界宏觀經濟的大趨勢，我們將繼續關注這些趨勢。但顯然，私人市場需要更長的時間。因此，我認為您所看到的是，您看到的反應最終出現在私人市場上，這些反應已經出現在公開定價和公開市場上一段時間了。

So I can't say anything specifically jumps out of me. I'd say the only other factor is there's some delay in fundraising and big companies are continuing to delay their next capital rounds until they see performance improve and probably some degree of recovery. And I say the irony is that until they start fundraising and those mark start hitting the street, that will continue to keep things running at a pace that may not be as quickly as the public markets. But I'll let Mark comment on this, too.

所以我不能說任何具體的事情。我想說，唯一的另一個因素是融資有所延遲，大公司繼續推遲下一輪融資，直到他們看到業績改善並可能出現一定程度的復甦。我說諷刺的是，在他們開始籌款並且這些標記開始出現在街上之前，這將繼續保持事情的運行速度可能不如公開市場那麼快。但我也會讓馬克對此發表評論。

Yeah, Owen, I think it's pretty much -- the comments and the variables that we described in the call, right? We are seeing signs of improvement. We're seeing the spread narrow in the private markets, right? We're seeing the performance of private companies as expressed through the Forge Private Market Index start to flatten.

是的，歐文，我認為這幾乎是我們在電話會議中描述的評論和變量，對嗎？我們看到了改善的跡象。我們看到私人市場的利差正在縮小，對嗎？我們看到 Forge 私募市場指數所反映的私人公司的表現開始趨於平緩。

I think the fact that the there has been recovery when I looked at the stats for the public indices through last Friday, non-accounting yesterday and today the QQQs were up 41%, NASDAQ was up 34%, S&P was up 17%, Russell 2000 up 12%. So when you look at the disparity in investment performance and the lag between the public and private markets, with the private markets as measured by our index down 17% this year, so flat for the last three-quarter quarters, I think that represents an opportunity. And as long as the public markets don't fly back, that lag could potentially be an opportunity for people who have the willingness to invest in the private market, even though even though, of course, it's a less liquid market and the public side.

我認為事實上，當我查看上週五的公共指數統計數據時，昨天和今天的非會計指標QQQ 上漲了41%，納斯達克指數上漲了34%，標準普爾指數上漲了17%，羅素指數已經出現復甦。2000年成長12%。因此，當你觀察投資績效的差異以及公開市場和私募市場之間的滯後時，根據我們的指數衡量，私募市場今年下降了 17%，而過去三個季度的表現持平，我認為這代表了機會。只要公開市場不反彈，這種落後對於那些願意投資私人市場的人來說就可能是一個機會，儘管當然，這是一個流動性較低的市場，而且公共市場也存在流動性較低的情況。 。

I think we're seeing the right positive signs, the question of the market continuing to return to normalcy, Whether that's, as Kelly said, companies starting to go get back into the IPO market and companies starting to do their next funding round, right? And those are all the continuing signs of improvement that will support the growth in our business.

我認為我們看到了正確的積極跡象，市場繼續恢復正常的問題，無論是像凱利所說的那樣，公司開始重返 IPO 市場，公司開始進行下一輪融資，對嗎？ ？這些都是持續改善的跡象，將支持我們業務的成長。

Got it. I think this is very helpful. And then in terms of valuation, I think you mentioned a median discount to the most funding round, and the second most funding round shrunk in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Could you please talk about how much of that shrinkage is driven by like the valuation of AI companies? And do you see any sign that this trend, like this increased valuation, has broadened out to other companies outside of AI companies? Thank you.

知道了。我認為這非常有幫助。然後在估值方面，我認為您提到了最大融資輪的中位數折扣，第二大融資輪與第一季相比，第二季出現了萎縮。您能談談這種萎縮有多少是人工智慧公司的估值造成的嗎？您是否看到任何跡象表明這種趨勢（例如估值的增加）已擴展到人工智慧公司以外的其他公司？謝謝。

So, I mean AI is definitely the sector of the moment, but we don't see valuations overall being driven by AI companies at this point. I think we're probably talking more about companies that are raising capital, having more to do, companies raising capital in the last three to six months, having more to do with valuations improving. And just the overall macro environment, finally, getting people comfortable to come back into the market, but we're still early. And part of what I've been commenting on in the press about the great reset has to do with the fact that we're at the beginning stages of it.

所以，我的意思是人工智慧絕對是目前的產業，但目前我們認為人工智慧公司的整體估值並未受到推動。我認為我們可能會更多地談論正在籌集資金、有更多事情要做的公司、在過去三到六個月內籌集資金、有更多與估值改善有關的公司。最後，整體宏觀環境讓人們放心重返市場，但我們還為時過早。我在媒體上評論的有關偉大重置的部分內容與我們正處於其開始階段有關。

I think we've got a fairly small percentage of companies that have traded in the last three to six months to have raised new rounds, it's still relatively early in the great reset. So this will play out, we think over the next one to three quarters, so we'll continue to watch it. But AI is exciting. Certainly, there's a lot of interest in it. It's just not affecting overall valuations as much as you might think.

我認為，在過去三到六個月內進行過交易的公司中，只有一小部分公司籌集了新一輪資金，現在還處於大重置的相對早期階段。所以這將會發生，我們認為在接下來的一到三個季度內，所以我們將繼續關注它。但人工智慧是令人興奮的。當然，人們對此很感興趣。它只是沒有像您想像的那樣影響整體估值。

And Kelly (multiple speakers) Hey, Owen, if I could add one more thing. Hopefully, you've had a chance to read the forward investment outlook, which we published recently. I would refer you to that publication on page 9, we actually break out the Forge Private Market Index across sectors. So when you're asking a question specifically about what parts of the index or the market are performing, actually, we specifically on that page show you the Q2 returns of the different sectors embedded within our index.

凱利（多名發言者）嘿，歐文，我還能補充一件事嗎？希望您有機會閱讀我們最近發布的遠期投資展望。我建議您參閱第 9 頁的出版物，我們實際上細分了各個行業的 Forge 私人市場指數。因此，當您具體詢問指數或市場的哪些部分正在表現時，實際上，我們在該頁面上專門向您展示了我們指數中嵌入的不同板塊的第二季度回報。

We breakout enterprise software, fintech, consumer and lifestyle, industrials, food tech, transportation, healthcare, education, and real estate. And you can see on that page the dispersion and the average returns for each of those subsectors within our overall index. So I think that would go a long way to giving you another and other readers and investors insights into what we're seeing across sectors and companies.

我們突破企業軟體、金融科技、消費者和生活方式、工業、食品科技、交通、醫療保健、教育和房地產。您可以在該頁面上看到我們整體指數中每個子行業的離散度和平均回報率。因此，我認為這將大有幫助，讓您和其他讀者和投資者了解我們在各個行業和公司所看到的情況。

Thanks a lot. We appreciate your answer.

多謝。我們感謝您的回答。

Jeffrey Schmitt, William Blair.

傑弗裡·施密特，威廉·布萊爾。

Hi, thanks. So as you continue to build out the data platform and continue to add products and capabilities there, how does growth of that segment look? And when might you start breaking that out separately?

你好謝謝。因此，當您繼續建立數據平台並繼續添加產品和功能時，該細分市場的成長情況如何？什麼時候可以開始單獨解決這個問題？

Well, at this point, we feel like we've reached pretty good product market fit. I mean, it's been about a year-and-a-half since we brought it out and we don't want to make any forward statements committing to when we're going to do it. But as we look into the rest of '23 and 24, we're certainly looking at how our organization is set up to go out and expand. But we've already begun to put more marketing emphasis and more of our messaging emphasis, as you can hear on data and the index. So I'm not making any specific commitments, but we are looking at 2024 to continue to make that one of our top two investment priorities. (multiple speakers) Go ahead, Mark.

嗯，在這一點上，我們覺得我們已經達到了相當好的產品市場契合度。我的意思是，自從我們推出它以來已經過去了大約一年半的時間，我們不想做出任何關於何時實施的前瞻性聲明。但當我們展望 23 年和 24 年剩下的時間時，我們肯定會關注我們的組織如何走出去和擴張。但我們已經開始更加重視行銷和資訊傳遞，正如您可以從數據和索引中聽到的那樣。因此，我不會做出任何具體承諾，但我們期待 2024 年繼續將其作為我們的兩大投資重點之一。 （多位發言者）繼續，馬克。

Sorry, Jeff. I was just going to -- as a reminder, we did disclose our annual bookings at the end of the year. And at a minimum, our intent would be to disclose our annual data bookings in our each year on an annual basis.

對不起，傑夫。我只是想提醒一下，我們確實在年底披露了我們的年度預訂。至少，我們的目的是每年揭露我們的年度資料預訂量。

Yeah, and the thing here is that it was $1.2 million, up from $200,000.

是的，這裡的問題是 120 萬美元，高於 20 萬美元。

Got it. Okay. And then transaction value volume was up nicely in the quarter, but looking at volume per trade, it seemed to be down a fair amount. So was there a mix shift there to more retail investors trading on the platform in the quarter? And did drive the take rate up at all?

知道了。好的。然後，本季的交易額大幅上升，但從每筆交易的交易量來看，似乎下降了相當多的金額。那麼，本季是否出現了更多散戶投資者在該平台上進行交易的混合轉變？確實提高了採用率嗎？

Yeah, yeah, it's a great observation, Jeff. So I mean, just in terms of the pure factual numbers, we did do see where amount of large block trades. Now, we measure that in terms of trades over $5 million. And so we did fewer large blocks, but obviously, the positive was we did a significantly more number of smaller trades. And as you pointed out, that drove up our overall take rate.

是的，是的，這是一個很好的觀察，傑夫。所以我的意思是，就純粹的事實數字而言，我們確實看到了大宗交易的數量。現在，我們以超過 500 萬美元的交易來衡量。因此，我們進行的大宗交易較少，但顯然，積極的一面是我們進行了更多的小額交易。正如您所指出的，這提高了我們的整體採用率。

And so that 3.7% take rate compares to the average of 3.3% for the full-year 2022 and 2021. So it was a quarter where it was more dominated by smaller trades. Although early into Q3, we are seeing our average trade size starting to pick up again. So that is something that, as we've talked about in the past, that mix of business will affect our overall take rates and average trade sizes.

因此，3.7% 的接受率與 2022 年和 2021 年全年 3.3% 的平均值相比。因此，這個季度更多是由小型交易主導。儘管進入第三季初期，我們看到我們的平均交易規模開始再次回升。因此，正如我們過去所討論的那樣，業務組合將影響我們的整體接受率和平均交易規模。

Okay, very helpful. Thank you.

好的，非常有幫助。謝謝。

Devin Ryan, JMP Securities.

德文·瑞安 (Devin Ryan)，JMP 證券。

Hey, Kelly, hi, Mark. How are you?

嘿，凱利，嗨，馬克。你好嗎？

Great, thanks.

萬分感謝。

Hey, a couple questions just on the outlook and good to get all the color from you guys and your outlook report as well, so good to see some of the building evidence around the recovery. I guess the first question is, what do you guys think a recovery really looks like? We're obviously troughing or feels like it and starting a recovery. But do you see a level of pent-up demand and transact that maybe we get to a point where there's a little bit of a coiled spring once there's a higher degree of confidence and maybe equilibrium between buyers and sellers?

嘿，有幾個關於前景的問題，很高興從你們和你們的前景報告中得到所有的信息，很高興看到一些關於復甦的建築證據。我想第一個問題是，你們認為復甦到底是什麼樣的？我們顯然正在經歷低谷，或者感覺像是這樣，並開始復甦。但是，您是否看到了被壓抑的需求和交易水平，一旦買家和賣家之間的信心更高，甚至可能達到平衡，我們可能會達到一個有點螺旋彈簧的程度？

Just trying to think about maybe that's when the IPO window opens and that will be the catalyst to really drive that coiled spring. Or if we're thinking about it the right way, you just feel like this is going to be a steady grind higher over the next couple of years and the extent we are recovering. Let me just get a little flavor for how you guys are thinking about it.

只是想一想，也許那時 IPO 窗口打開，這將成為真正推動螺旋彈簧的催化劑。或者，如果我們以正確的方式思考它，你會覺得在接下來的幾年裡，這將是一個穩定上升的過程，以及我們正在復甦的程度。讓我稍微了解一下你們是如何看待這個問題的。

Yes. So the data would suggest that there's pent-up demand, we've been watching the data for several quarters. But at the same time, we're hopeful, we've been really careful about cost control, and in particular, making sure that we're running the business in a manner that assumes it's not going to come back in the return to 2021 volume and valuation. So I'd say we're watching it, we're optimistic with the bid-ask spread data that you're starting to see now on the platform that we reported on. And just the pure numbers of IOIs that have been elevated for quite a while.

是的。因此，這些數據表明存在被壓抑的需求，我們幾個季度以來一直在關注這些數據。但同時，我們充滿希望，我們一直非常謹慎地控製成本，特別是確保我們以一種假設 2021 年不會再出現這種情況的方式經營業務數量和估值。所以我想說我們正在關注它，我們對您現在開始在我們報告的平台上看到的買賣價差數據感到樂觀。僅僅是 IOI 的純粹數字已經上升了很長一段時間。

We are expecting some degree of recovery, we're just not going to expect it to come charging back, but we're going to manage with modesty. And I'd say one of the things that we're looking at as our pipeline, it really gives us a pretty good view into the next six weeks, and those are those are improving. And that's part of the reason why we made the comments about Q3 because we could see that the pipeline has steadily improved from the beginning of the year until now. So I guess I'd say and I'll let Mark comment further: my expectation is that the pipeline will continue to improve at the rate that it has been improving, which is encouraging. But that would indicate that the recovery will take a while for them. Mark?

我們期待一定程度的復甦，只是不會期待它會反彈，但我們會謙虛地應對。我想說的是，我們正在考慮的事情之一是我們的管道，它確實讓我們對未來六週有一個很好的了解，而這些都是正在改進的。這就是我們對第三季發表評論的部分原因，因為我們可以看到管道從年初到現在一直在穩步改善。所以我想我會說，我會讓馬克進一步評論：我的期望是管道將繼續以其一直在改善的速度改善，這是令人鼓舞的。但這表明他們的恢復需要一段時間。標記？

And I think I would add that, I mean, I think you are spot on from a macro standpoint, seeing IPOs come back in the market, seeing successful public company exits for privates, it will be an important factor. I think as Kelly mentioned, the great reset has seen more private companies do that next funding round and reset the primary valuation. That will be another validating of the new normal and the new valuations for private companies. On a more micro level, I mean, we continue to see record levels of sellers, both in terms of number of sell-side IOIs as well as represented by the number of issuers, which have selling interest on our platform.

我想我想補充一點，我的意思是，我認為從宏觀角度來看，你是對的，看到首次公開募股重新回到市場，看到上市公司成功退出私營企業，這將是一個重要因素。我認為正如凱利所提到的，偉大的重置已經看到更多的私人公司進行下一輪融資並重置主要估值。這將是對私人企業新常態和新估值的另一個驗證。我的意思是，在更微觀的層面上，我們繼續看到創紀錄的賣家水平，無論是從賣方 IOI 的數量還是從在我們平台上有銷售興趣的發行人的數量來看。

And there's still a relatively steady balance, but we do see some slight improvement in terms of the mix, buy-side versus sell-side IOIs. We have been talking about that last quarter about a roughly two-thirds to one-third ratio between sell-side to buy-side IOIs coming in. And that ratio now is more closer to 60:40, so some improvement. I mean, we would want to see that start to get back towards more normalized 50:50 ratio between buy and sell side IOIs, but we are seeing some incremental improvement.

仍然存在相對穩定的平衡，但我們確實看到買方與賣方 IOI 的組合略有改善。我們一直在談論上個季度賣方與買方 IOI 之間的比率約為三分之二到三分之一。現在該比率更接近 60:40，因此有所改善。我的意思是，我們希望看到買方和賣方 IOI 之間的比率開始回到更正常的 50:50 比率，但我們看到了一些漸進的改善。

And then last point, if you have had the chance to read the investment outlook, which I'm plugging again, we do point out that in terms of the number of companies which have exercised their workers, that increased in Q2 to 25% of all issuers that we traded exercise at least one broker. And -- that's an increase from prior quarters and it's the highest level in terms of number of issuers, which had a roper in the quarter, that's the highest percentage in over two years. So I think that, when you combine that with the disparity we talked about between public performance in 2023 in private markets, I think that valuation, as supported by the increased percentage of issuers exercising their worker right, it tells you that we're getting to the point where the opportunity to investment in the private companies looks awfully attractive.

最後一點，如果您有機會閱讀我再次插入的投資前景，我們確實指出，就鍛鍊員工的公司數量而言，第二季度增加到了 25%。我們交易的所有發行人都至少行使一名經紀人。而且，這比前幾季有所增加，就發行人數量而言是最高水平，本季度有發行人，這是兩年多來的最高百分比。因此，我認為，當你將其與我們討論的2023 年私募市場公開表現之間的差異結合起來時，我認為，在行使工人權利的發行人比例增加的支持下，估值會告訴你，我們正在獲得以至於投資私人公司的機會看起來非常有吸引力。

Okay. Thank you both, that's really helpful. And then just somewhat related, I think the framework here is that 2021 was a special environment just for risk appetites and valuations and that we may not be in that type of environment for some period of time. However, there's a secular growth aspect to the market that you're in and a maturation of the market. So we don't necessarily need to be in a 2021 market for volumes to be much higher for Forge to be more successful, and I think that's always part of our thesis.

好的。謝謝你們兩位，這真的很有幫助。然後有點相關的是，我認為這裡的框架是，2021 年對於風險偏好和估值來說是一個特殊的環境，而我們可能在一段時間內不會處於這種環境中。然而，您所在的市場有一個長期成長的方面，市場正在成熟。因此，我們不一定需要在 2021 年市場中實現銷售大幅成長才能讓 Forge 取得更大成功，我認為這始終是我們論文的一部分。

And so I'd love to just maybe hit on, if you can, some of the anecdotes around just progress that you're having just further developing the market and standardizing the market with companies that are trading on Forge, so that when we get into maybe a more, quote-unquote, normal environment, there's just a lot more activity on Forge and your market share is also greater. I'm just trying to think about some of the things you guys are still doing behind the scenes that maybe isn't becoming evident yet just because we're in this trough of the private markets.

因此，如果可以的話，我很想談談一些有關進展的軼事，您正在進一步開發市場並與在 Forge 上進行交易的公司一起規範市場，以便當我們得到也許進入一個更正常的環境，Forge 上的活動更多，你的市佔率也更大。我只是想思考一下你們仍在幕後做的一些事情，這些事情可能還沒有變得明顯，只是因為我們正處於私募市場的低谷。

First of all, there are more companies than ever that are coming to the same conclusion that the thesis that built the company was based upon, which is staying private longer to build a world-changing business, has different capital and liquidity needs than what was previously the case when companies were going public in five to seven years. I'd say there is an anecdotal sentiment that runs through a lot of the newer unicorns that liquidity, secondary access is part of the natural life of a private company. And so we continue to see support much greater than we saw when Mark and I were part of this five years ago, from companies accepting that.

首先，越來越多的公司比以往任何時候都得出同樣的結論，即創建該公司所依據的論點是保持更長時間的私有化以建立改變世界的業務，但其資本和流動性需求與以前不同。以前，公司要在五到七年內上市時就會出現這種情況。我想說的是，許多新成立的獨角獸公司都存在著一種軼事情緒，即流動性、二次獲取是私人公司自然生活的一部分。因此，我們繼續看到比五年前馬克和我參與其中時看到的支持要大得多，來自接受這一點的公司。

And so, what I guess, if I look back at 2021, a lot of that volume was driven by the big IPOs that happened in 2021. So, in a world where we get back to sort of normalized IPO, then, yes, we will benefit from that, as well as a broadening level of participation by companies, not just in the US but globally. And I guess to some of my comments I made today, and part of the reason why we've got this index is because we believe there are new products that will come to market that will allow a much broader group of people that aren't just buying for a flip or buying for a hard access to company, to have a more mainstream position in people's portfolios.

因此，我想，如果我回顧 2021 年，大部分的交易量都是由 2021 年發生的大型 IPO 推動。因此，在我們回到正常化 IPO 的世界中，是的，我們將受益於這一點，以及公司參與程度的擴大，不僅在美國，而且在全球。我想，根據我今天發表的一些評論，我們獲得該指數的部分原因是因為我們相信，將會有新產品進入市場，讓更廣泛的人群能夠使用這些產品。只是為了炒作而購買，或者為了難以進入公司而購買，以便在人們的投資組合中佔據更主流的地位。

And so we see a whole set of other factors that are driving the future that are now starting to present themselves. Now, it's one of the reasons why data and the index are such a significant part of our strategy. Said another way, we don't need another 2021, where we've got nosebleed valuations that are unsustainable in order to have the success and the expansion of the overall market. And so we're really excited about the overall maturity of the market. We've been in a tough macroeconomic time, it seemingly calming down, but we've got a little ways to go.

因此，我們看到推動未來的一整套其他因素現在開始顯現出來。現在，這就是為什麼資料和索引成為我們策略的重要組成部分的原因之一。換句話說，我們不需要另一個 2021 年，為了獲得成功和整個市場的擴張，我們的估值令人流鼻血，這是不可持續的。因此，我們對市場的整體成熟度感到非常興奮。我們正處於宏觀經濟的艱難時期，看似正在平靜下來，但我們還有很長的路要走。

But -- we're still so early in the market that I'm really excited about TAM potential and that others are coming to see the same things we are. But I'll let Mark speak on any of the specifics data points you'd like to set up.

但是，我們在市場上還處於早期階段，我對 TAM 的潛力感到非常興奮，其他人也會看到我們同樣的東西。但我會讓馬克談論您想要設定的任何具體數據點。

Look, I think I would just reiterate Devon. This last, obviously, 18 months has been a very different and challenging market environment. But at the same time, you've seen Forge roll out the data products, right) Lending capability, open up international operations, an enroll in an index. So we're continuing to try to find that balance between managing our costs carefully, reducing our burn, but also investing for the future. So I do think that comparing where we are now, in terms of our products and services and our footprint and our capabilities to where we were back in 2021, we've continued to make good progress, we're just doing it in a very difficult market environment.

聽著，我想我只想重申一下德文郡。顯然，過去 18 個月是一個非常不同且充滿挑戰的市場環境。但同時，你已經看到 Forge 推出了數據產品，對吧）借貸能力，開放國際業務，加入指數。因此，我們將繼續努力在謹慎管理成本、減少資金消耗和為未來投資之間找到平衡。因此，我確實認為，就我們的產品和服務、我們的足跡以及我們的能力而言，與2021 年的情況相比，我們繼續取得了良好的進展，我們只是以一種非常好的方式來做這件事。困難的市場環境。

And I'd add one more thing, and that is that, while this cycle has been tough, we'd continued to have a significant part of our organization focused on building a scalable, highly automated, and the market infrastructure that's core to the next phase of the market. And while we're not ready to talk about some of the specifics there, you can bet that we've used this last 18 months in the background, while the market's been dislocated, to continue to make those investments. And we think, when they do surface and we do bring them out, the benefit of that to the overall market in terms of scalability and efficiency will be obvious. So stay tuned.

我還要補充一件事，那就是，雖然這個週期很艱難，但我們組織的很大一部分仍然專注於建立可擴展的、高度自動化的市場基礎設施​​，這是市場的核心。下一階段的市場。雖然我們還沒有準備好談論其中的一些細節，但你可以打賭，我們已經在市場混亂的情況下利用了過去 18 個月的時間來繼續進行這些投資。我們認為，當它們真正出現並且我們確實將它們推出時，在可擴展性和效率方面對整個市場的好處將是顯而易見的。所以請繼續關注。

Yeah, all great color. If I could just squeeze one quick one in here, just as a follow-up to an earlier question, just on the volume per trade trends and appreciate some of the color there, and then also the quarter to date on what you're seeing. Just in a higher level, should we expect that -- you should see a recovery just along with greater volumes and the normalization in the market and valuations over time? I don't know if there's more of a mix shift dynamic here that may make that harder predict for us on the outside. Just any thought on like what volume per trade file looks like normalizing in a normal activity market. Is there more uplift from here or is it really just simply the mix of the types of transactions?

是的，顏色都很棒。如果我可以在這裡簡單地講一個，就像之前問題的後續一樣，只是關於每筆交易的交易量趨勢並欣賞那裡的一些顏色，然後還有您所看到的季度迄今為止的情況。只是在更高的層面上，我們是否應該期望——隨著時間的推移，隨著交易量的增加以及市場和估值的正常化，您應該看到復甦？我不知道這裡是否存在更多的混合變化動態，這可能會讓我們外部的預測變得更加困難。任何關於每個交易文件的交易量的想法看起來都像是在正常活動市場中正常化的。這裡是否有更多的提升，或者它真的只是交易類型的混合？

Yeah, you know, Devin, my general thought on that is that, what we've seen in the last six quarters have been really a huge expansion in number of sellers, which typically tend to be the employees, the founders of the company, some more individual sellers. And what's been lacking is obviously the deficit of institutional buyers. And so I do think that as things normalize over time, that you would see the institutional buyer come back in. And that as that buyer comes back in, the average trade size would start to go up again.

是的，你知道，德文，我對此的總體想法是，我們在過去六個季度中看到的賣家數量確實大幅增加，這些賣家通常往往是員工、公司創始人，還有一些個人賣家。而缺乏的顯然是機構買家的赤字。因此，我確實認為，隨著時間的推移，情況逐漸正常化，你會看到機構買家回來。隨著買家回來，平均交易規模將開始再次上升。

So I think in general, that's how I would see it playing out over time as our markets recover. Now, one contrast to that is, as we continue to automate and improve the overall efficiency of the process, our goal is to expand the smaller trades that we can accommodate to bring down our minimums from $100,000 to $50,000, $25,000, and people can transact in small size so that we can accommodate that institutional investor that wants to trade in size, as well as the individual investor who wants to buy smaller lots. And so, I think those would be the two offsetting factors: institutions coming back into investment would raise our trade size, but expanding and improving our tax and create more efficiency, should lower our average trade sizes so we can start to trade even smaller size market cap private companies.

所以我認為總的來說，隨著我們的市場復甦，我會看​​到它會如何發展。現在，與此形成鮮明對比的是，隨著我們繼續自動化並提高流程的整體效率，我們的目標是擴大我們可以容納的較小交易，將最低限額從100,000 美元降低到50,000 美元、25,000 美元，人們可以進行交易規模較小，這樣我們就可以滿足想要進行大筆交易的機構投資者以及想要購買較小手數的個人投資者。因此，我認為這將是兩個抵消因素：機構重新投入投資將提高我們的貿易規模，但擴大和改善我們的稅收並創造更高的效率，應該會降低我們的平均貿易規模，以便我們可以開始進行較小的貿易規模私人公司的市值。

Got it. Very clear. Okay, thanks, Mark. Appreciate it, guys.

知道了。非常清楚。好的，謝謝，馬克。非常感謝，夥計們。

Thanks, Devon.

謝謝，德文郡。

As a reminder --.

提醒一句 - 。

No. please, Emma, I think we're queuing, so I think we're good to go.

不，拜託，艾瑪，我想我們正在排隊，所以我想我們可以走了。

Ken Worthington, JPMorgan.

肯‧沃辛頓，摩根大通。

Hi, thanks for squeezing me in. Maybe first on headcount, I think headcount was up 6% this quarter from the March quarter. I think you said in the prepared remarks, it was down maybe 3% so far this quarter. So can you talk a little bit about what positions are being filled here? Where are you finding the opportunities for the headcount efficiency? And how does this all fit into the good number of initiatives you have building out [Europe], building out data, building out indexes, and trying to keep headcount cuts?

您好，謝謝您的邀請。首先是關於員工人數，我認為本季的員工人數較 3 月份季度增長了 6%。我想你在準備好的發言中說過，本季到目前為止可能下降了 3%。那麼您能談談這裡正在填補哪些職位嗎？您在哪裡尋找提高員工效率的機會？這一切如何適應你們在歐洲建設、建立數據、建立索引以及試圖保持裁員的大量舉措？

Yeah, let me add a few comments and then Kelly can chime in. I mean -- and you've hit all the right points here. I mean, it's a balancing act for us, right? Of trying to maintain focus on our key strategic priorities, while at the same time, trying to manage our overall expense footprint, relative to our revenues in each quarter. And so to recap, I mean, we started the year with 349 employees, right? It dropped down.

是的，讓我添加一些評論，然後凱利可以插話。我的意思是 - 你在這裡已經擊中了所有正確的觀點。我的意思是，這對我們來說是一種平衡行為，對嗎？努力保持對我們關鍵策略優先事項的關注，同時努力管理相對於每季收入的整體支出足跡。回顧一下，我的意思是，年初我們有 349 名員工，對嗎？它掉了下來。

We took actions in Q1. The broader headcount down to 339. During Q2, our headcount expanded back up to 359 as a combination of some key strategic hires, backfills, and continual buildout of our technology team. And our numbers will fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter, right? The amount of turnover and critical hires and backfills will always vary.

我們在第一季採取了行動。更廣泛的員工人數降至 339 人。在第二季度，由於一些關鍵策略招募、人員補充和技術團隊的持續建設，我們的員工人數擴大至 359 人。我們的數字每季都會波動，對嗎？人員流動量以及關鍵的招募和補充總是會有所不同。

But generally speaking, as we've discussed before, right. We're in a hiring freeze, where we're working to maintain our headcount. And so the numbers went from 349 down to 339, back up to 358 at the end of Q2. And as I said during the call, with actions taken in July, the headcount now is back down to three 339. So we're still below where we started the year, and we are trying to actively manage those competing priorities and our strategic key -- for us and [bribes]. And part of that is where we can add and where we can subtract.

但一般來說，正如我們之前討論過的，對。我們正處於招聘凍結期，正在努力維持員工人數。因此，數字從 349 下降到 339，在第二季末又回到 358。正如我在電話會議中所說，隨著7 月採取的行動，員工人數現已回落至339 人。因此，我們仍低於年初的水平，我們正在努力積極管理這些相互競爭的優先事項和我們的策略關鍵—對於我們和[賄賂]。其中一部分是我們可以加和減的地方。

Thank you. That makes sense.

謝謝。這就說得通了。

Yeah, I'd add that the composition focus has either been in specific areas of engineering that underlie our institutional and our data focus or specific areas of go to market where we need institutional or segment expertise that really line up with those with those services that we're focusing on. So it's really a game of bringing in very specific talent and making sure we're mindful about where we're reducing, as to not sacrifice those priority. That's really the fine tuning on the instrument panel that we're trying to operate here in this environment.

是的，我想補充一點，組成重點要么是我們機構和數據重點基礎的特定工程領域，要么是我們需要機構或細分專業知識的特定市場領域，這些專業知識與那些提供服務的人真正一致。我們關注的是。因此，這實際上是一場引進非常具體的人才的遊戲，並確保我們注意我們要減少的地方，以免犧牲這些優先事項。這實際上是我們在這種環境下嘗試操作的儀表板上的微調。

So I appreciate the question. I think it's something that should be known by our investors and prospective investors, that we really are trying to line-up the precious resources underneath the strategic priority that we've set for ourselves. So I appreciate the question.

所以我很欣賞這個問題。我認為我們的投資者和潛在投資者應該知道，我們確實正在努力在我們為自己設定的策略優先事項下排列寶貴的資源。所以我很欣賞這個問題。

Great. And then just one last one, I think this goes to a prior question about reengagement and pent-up demand. But you mentioned that private company valuations are probably 50% below the latest investment round, which makes sense, right? Does this reality change? Has it changed the conversations that you've been having with trying to get new unicorns and new private companies to, I'm using bunny years, like list on Forge for the first time.

偉大的。最後一個，我認為這涉及到先前關於重新參與和被壓抑的需求的問題。但您提到私人公司的估值可能比最新一輪投資低 50%，這是有道理的，對吧？這個現實會改變嗎？它是否改變了你一直在試圖吸引新的獨角獸和新的私人公司的對話，我正在使用兔子年，就像第一次在 Forge 上列出的那樣。

And to the same extent, is this having an impact on those that are already participating in the Forge platform? But this new reality is something that it's like ostrich in the head in the sand, they don't really want that public mark out there, so they're really reluctant to participate on the platform. Like, is this reality impeding your business as certain or maybe even many of your target audience tries to hide from this reality? And therefore, as they go to their next public rounds and the reality becomes public, they are more willing to return to your platform and maybe that was what you were trying to say in the first place. But anyway, am I barking up the right tree here?

同樣，這是否會對那些已經參與 Forge 平台的人產生影響？但這種新的現實就像鴕鳥把頭埋在沙子裡，他們並不真的希望那個公共標記在那裡，所以他們真的不願意參與這個平台。例如，這個現實是否會阻礙您的業務，因為某些甚至許多目標受眾都試圖逃避這個現實？因此，當他們進入下一輪公開融資並且現實變得公開時，他們更願意回到你的平台，也許這就是你首先想說的。但無論如何，我在這裡吠叫的樹正確嗎？

No, you're making sense. A couple of months ago, actually in Q1, we started reporting to the press that the emergence of newer unicorns were starting to populate a lot of the activity and mind share of participants that we were seeing. And I think part of the reason for that was a lot of the new emerging unicorns may not have had the baggage of their valuations being highly visible in 2021. And so therefore, it's almost like the great reset that we're talking about, might not apply to them because they weren't around in 2020, at least not as unicorns.

不，你說得有道理。幾個月前，實際上是在第一季度，我們開始向媒體報道，新的獨角獸公司的出現開始佔據我們所看到的參與者的大量活動和思想份額。我認為部分原因是許多新興獨角獸公司的估值在 2021 年可能沒有那麼明顯。因此，這幾乎就像我們正在談論的偉大重置，可能不適用於他們，因為他們在2020 年還沒有出現，至少不是獨角獸。

So I'd say there's almost two classes of companies that we're dealing with here with respect to your question: companies that are having to handle and deal with the resetting of evaluation that was incredibly high in '21. And some of those names you know because we talked about them previously going out, whether it be Instacart, whether it be Strike, whether the Klarna, these are companies that massive numbers in '21 that they're having to publicly deal with. Now there's a bunch of other names that may have not done a fundraising round.

因此，我想說，就你的問題而言，我們正在與兩類公司打交道：這些公司必須處理和應對 21 年非常高的評估重置。其中一些名字你知道，因為我們之前討論過它們，無論是 Instacart、Strike、Klarna，這些公司在 21 年數量眾多，他們必須公開處理這些問題。現在還有很多其他名字可能還沒完成融資。

And so, yes, in that area, that's what I would call the category of Unicorn that have to face the music at some point, and the question is what is their performance look now, relative to two years ago. But this other class of brand new unicorns aren't facing that reality at all. There still is valuation pressure and there is still a question about what should things be priced at. But that's starting to clear itself up, so I'd say, as far as Forge is concerned, if a company comes to the conclusion that they want to allow trading or they want to in fact manage a program, then I'd say, in all cases, the reality of the current valuation environment is front and center.

所以，是的，在這個領域，這就是我所說的獨角獸類別，它們在某個時候必須面對音樂，問題是相對於兩年前，他們現在的表現如何。但另一類全新的獨角獸根本沒有面對這個現實。估值壓力仍然存在，並且仍然存在定價應該如何的問題。但這已經開始變得清晰起來，所以我想說，就 Forge 而言，如果一家公司得出的結論是他們想要允許交易或他們實際上想要管理一個程序，那麼我會說，在所有情況下，當前估值環境的現實都是最重要的。

We will not be hampered by that or deterred by that as long as companies recognize the moment that we're in. And that's part of the reason why we're trying to acknowledge this great reset. But yeah, I think a lot of companies still haven't come to the reality yet, Ken, and they'll get there when they have to raise money for sure.

只要公司認識到我們所處的時刻，我們就不會受到這種情況的阻礙或阻礙。這也是我們試圖承認這一偉大重置的部分原因。但是，是的，我認為很多公司還沒有意識到這一點，肯，當他們肯定需要籌集資金時，他們就會實現這一目標。

Okay, great. Thanks very much.

好的，太好了。非常感謝。

Awesome. Thank you, Kenneth. I think we're done with the questions and I think we're going to conclude today's call. We appreciate you all being here and look forward to seeing you on the road in Q3.

驚人的。謝謝你，肯尼斯。我想我們已經回答完問題了，我想我們將結束今天的電話會議。我們感謝大家來到這裡，並期待在第三季在路上見到你們。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線。