Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - Dec 15, 2021

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK DECEMBER 15, 2021
KAUA‘I MIDWEEK COVER STORY
STORY BY BILL MOSSMAN PHOTO BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO
Whether in global financial markets or on baseball fields, businessman Dustin Shindo has proven that he’s got game.
As prominent a business leader as Dustin Shindo is, even he gets lost in the shad- ows of others at times.
In recalling those summer days that overflowed with baseball and business highs, Shindo says,
“I’ d go and watch Ty-
ler’s games during the day, then I’ d stay up all night working on this SPAC. We finished the initial public offering the same day that my son was on national TV.
about home runs, pop-flies and strikeouts as he is dis- cussing profit margins, returns on investment and balance sheets. Last month, he was named Hawai‘i state director for Perfect Game, the largest baseball scouting service in the world and one that hosts youth baseball and softball events in 35 states.
this all means for a Hawai‘i baseball player. It means you don’t have to fly to the main- land every time you want to be seen at a tournament or showcase. There are some players who can afford to do that, but what about every- one else?” he asks. “So, we needed a way to bring more (exposure) to Hawai‘i so that more players could be seen than otherwise would be.”
This includes the eclipse cast by his own 12-year-old son, Tyler — the switch-hit- ting ambidextrous pitcher who excelled on the base- ball diamond last summer in leading Honolulu Little League to the West Regional championship in San Berna- dino, California.
do resisted taking the plunge into SPACs because turning private ventures into public- ly traded companies wasn’t conventional.
he’s especially proud of is how the birth of Hawai‘i’s first SPAC could improve the way outsiders view do- ing business in the islands.
But while the youngster was making magic on the baseball field, Shindo was busy accomplishing some- thing quite remarkable as well — just in another field, and without any fanfare.
“So, everyone knew about him, but nobody knew about the SPAC.”
“The best companies wouldn’t use SPACs be- fore,” he explains. “But a couple of years ago that changed and it started to become well-accepted on Wall Street with companies like DraftKings.
“When you go out to the rest of the world to try and raise money or do deals, there’s always this feeling that Hawai‘i is just a tour- ist thing,” notes Shindo, whose extensive business background includes found- ing the drug development company Pono Corp. and its health care subsidiaries. “So, anytime anyone can do something like this, it helps in changing some of those perceptions and that makes it better for the next gener- ation, or for the next person Nwho goes out and does it. People will start thinking, ‘Hey, I can do it, too!’”
In choosing to volunteer for the position, Shindo gave the national organization ev- ery reason to finally set up shop in the islands — a boon for local players because it greatly expands the world of Hawai‘i baseball.
What he did was suc- cessfully launch Hawai‘i’s first-ever special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, which is essentially a nonoperational company that exists solely to raise capital.
By helping to found Pono Capital Corp., Shin- do was able to complete its listing on Nasdaq in August and begin public trading under the ticker symbol “PONO.” As a re- sult, the company raised a whopping $115 million — all of which sets up Shindo, its CEO, to finance a merger with a private company — likely one in the disruptive technology sector — in the coming months.
“Now, it’s used as a more mainstream way to go pub- lic.”
“Almost every U.S.-born player that’s in the major leagues has at one point played in Perfect Game. It’s the avenue to be seen by college and professional scouts,” explains Shindo, who in 2018 created the non- profit Hawai‘i Youth Base- ball Association, which has since been renamed Perfect Game Hawai‘i.
It’s a feat that often only investors within global fi- nancial markets can truly appreciate.
Although admittedly in- terested in “blank check companies” for years, Shin-
The ambitious Shindo — who also serves as CEO of Junify Corp., a Palo Al- to-based startup that special- izes in cloud access securi- ty software — has always prided himself in being a difference maker, and this latest accomplishment only cements his standing as a pioneer in the local busi- ness community. But what
ot surprisingly, Shindo is as com- fortable talking
“Now think about what
“What makes this tour- nament different is that all the data for the kids is integrated into the Perfect Game system. So, anytime a player goes up and hits a home run or pitches a good
They do now.
Shindo, who grew up on the Big Island playing base- ball and soccer, is especially excited about debuting the Perfect Game Pacific Base- ball Championship in the islands next July. It will be the first of what he hopes is many premier tournaments to be staged in the state.
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