John Bautista of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was the chief lawyer behind the Long-Term Stock Exchange, as well as a co-founder and director. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-approved exchange is designed to change the paradigm of traditional stock exchanges by rewarding entrepreneurs and investors committed to long-term business strategies. Bautista is among the five finalists for the Innovator of the Year Award. The winner will be announced Nov. 6 as part of the California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards. The Recorder recently asked Bautista about the concept behind the exchange and the legal work that went into it.

The Recorder: What does it mean to you to be called an innovator?

Innovation to me means identifying, developing and launching solutions that involve both technology and law to solve significant problems for emerging companies. Innovative solutions are novel because others have not yet identified them. To be an effective innovator who takes on significant problems requires collaborating with others and moving quickly.

In the case of LTSE, Eric Ries and I created a company, raised seed capital, developed a minimum viable product (MVP), partnered with others (such as Y Combinator), raised two venture rounds of financing, hired a team of many highly talented employees, obtained SEC approval to operate a new kind of change—all of these required leadership and vision, building a team, raising and deploying capital and moving fast!

What was the chief problem you were seeking to address with your work on the Long-Term Stock Exchange and how did you address it?

At its core, the problem is the short-term focus of companies, which is pushed by current exchanges and standards. By changing these standards and developing a new regulated exchange (the Long-Term Stock Exchange) with software tools and services for CEOs, CFOs and GCs of LTSE customers, our goal is to enable emerging companies to focus more on long-term rather than short-term results. This will foster more innovation, and over time, deliver greater value to long-term focused stakeholders in these companies.

How will you and the team at the Long-Term Stock Exchange measure the success of the exchange itself? The companies that list on it?

The number of listed companies is one measurement of success, but we will also measure success based on the number of companies using LTSE's software tools and services aimed at fostering a long-term focus (whether or not those companies also choose to list on the Long-Term Stock Exchange).