Small companies with big dreams, seemingly the story of many entrepreneurs today .

While many will fall by the wayside due to flawed business models or poor mana gement teams, who will finance the next Hansen Natural (NASDAQ: HANS), a former microcap stock that currently sports a valuation exceeding $7 billion and has an nualized beverage sales exceeding $1 billion? Or the next Mylan, Inc. (NASDAQ: M YL), a one-time, capital-starved pharmaceutical company trading for pennies that now also carries a robust $7 billion valuation? Socius Capital Group will, acco rding to its Chairman and known financier, Terren Peizer. In a conversation in h is Los Angeles office Mr. Peizer, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist himself , cited Socius' willingness to "swing for the fences" in search of undiscovered gems that are often overlooked by Wall Street. The privately-funded group, which has been around for approximately three years, has been adept at navigating the treacherous environs of small-cap stocks to de liver robust returns for Peizers "family office." While Peizer declined to state specific results for the firm, as he noted it doesn t have to disclose results p ublicly due to its ownership, numerous media reports suggest that Socius has gen erated annualized compounded returns exceeding 100%. Peizer, who cites the firm s willingness to look at areas that are often out-offavor on Wall Street, cited two areas where its savvy investments allowed it to score big profits. One was the area of stem cell technology, where Socius made e arly investments in several small companies just months before President Obama s igned legislation designed to provide funding for research. The favorable legis lation caused stocks across the sector to surge. Socius also invested in small immunotherapy companies just months before Dendreon receive FDA clearance, which helped to boost the entire sector. "While it always helps to have a favorable environment in the sector, our fundam ental research is designed to uncover undervalued opportunities that have the po tential to perform regardless of market conditions," said Peizer. "We screen hun dreds of companies each month, and only after speaking with management and getti ng a strong understanding of their business, competitive position and capital ne eds do we invest. We then try and do everything possible to support their busine sses. Socius means to partner, and we try and help our portfolio companies in any way possible."

Socius Capital Group also prides itself on identifying emerging companies in eme rging industries. This is exemplified by its $15 million investment in Poynt Cor proration, an industry leader in the emerging mobile commerce space with its Loc ation Based Services (LBS) platform. We are quite excited about this investment, and think we will generate outsized gains as the public recognizes its valuable industry partnerships, increased user base, increased queries and page views per month, and advertisers willingness to pay high Cost Per Thousand (CPM) rates as Poynts contextual search and services technology delivers superior value, said Pei zer. He further stated that Socius Capital Groups to partner mantra will also pay t remendous dividends as many pending Joint Ventures come to fruition. Peizer cites the firm s creativity as another reason for its success. According to regulatory filings, Socius, in 2011, has entered into common stock transactio ns, preferred stock deals, medium term notes transactions and even debt-for-equi ty swaps. A review of regulatory filings in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada showed numerous investments, some as large as $50 mi llion, in small companies. Based on its track record of picking strong companies with compelling growth prospects, Socius may be helping some of those fledgling entrepreneurs turn their against all odds dreams into reality..and outsized profi ts for Peizers Socius Capital Group.