Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

We have something special this week and it's not just because Kate's in Berlin for TechCrunch Disrupt Europe and Alex's in the throws of a cross country move! No, we've had this episode in the works for a while, and we're excited to finally present our deep dive on direct listings with Chris Mayo, the head of primary markets at the London Stock Exchange.

If you're unfamiliar with direct listings, no need for concern. Chris walks us through the basics and even the more complicated stuff. Before you jump in. Here's a quick refresher on the new and innovative method of going public. Direct listings allow companies to exit by listing existing shares held by insiders, employees and investors directly to the market, rather than the traditional method of issuing new shares. If you're interested, we've written quite a bit on the subject like this, this, this and more.

As for Mayo, before landing at the London Stock Exchange in 2014 he was a consultant at EcoLogic Systems and a director of equity capital markets, Central and Eastern Europe.