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There’s not really a way to get those numbers outside of asking a bunch of random people. I can say that I worked at a company that wasn’t in the top 50 and the

There’s not really a way to get those numbers outside of asking a bunch of random people. I can say that I worked at a company that wasn’t in the top 50 and the market for shares was completely liquid. Most of the time at $100m+ valuation it should pretty active.

dsacco 9y ago
I think you should clarify what liquidity means in your anecdote, because liquidity is a function of time and volume. Definitionally speaking, shares in a private company are not as liquid as shares in a public company. So what does "completely liquid" mean? Could every owner of private shares find a buyer if they wanted to? If not, what subset could? That these figures are not public is a very important discussion point, because it does introduce some level of anecdata and arbitrary speculation into the discussion. That's not to say you're wrong, but it's certainly imprecise and questionable.
- austenallred 9y ago
  It means I had shares that I could sell a ton a moments notice on a secondary market, and so far as I could tell the market for those shares was enormous. I’d guess anyone, including VCs and founders, at the top 50 or so YC companies could sell their shares at any time to a large number of willing buyers, given the ability to do so. Therefore I’d argue that the value of those shares is far different from a “vanity metric.”
  - sanderjd 9y ago
    > anyone, including VCs and founders What about non-founder employees?
    - austenallred 9y ago
      Yes them too (I wasn’t a founder)
      - sanderjd 9y ago
        Are there any limitations to who can do what in the secondary markets? (Thanks for your answers to my questions - it's not easy to find information on this and I don't know anybody at a company like this to ask.)
sanderjd 9y ago
> I can say that I worked at a company that wasn’t in the top 50 and the market for shares was completely liquid. Most of the time at $100m+ valuation it should pretty active. In the top 50 what? The top 50 private companies?
- austenallred 9y ago
  The top 50 YC companies as measured by valuation

dsacco 9y ago

I think you should clarify what liquidity means in your anecdote, because liquidity is a function of time and volume. Definitionally speaking, shares in a private company are not as liquid as shares in a public company. So what does "completely liquid" mean? Could every owner of private shares find a buyer if they wanted to? If not, what subset could? That these figures are not public is a very important discussion point, because it does introduce some level of anecdata and arbitrary speculation into the discussion. That's not to say you're wrong, but it's certainly imprecise and questionable.

austenallred 9y ago
It means I had shares that I could sell a ton a moments notice on a secondary market, and so far as I could tell the market for those shares was enormous. I’d guess anyone, including VCs and founders, at the top 50 or so YC companies could sell their shares at any time to a large number of willing buyers, given the ability to do so. Therefore I’d argue that the value of those shares is far different from a “vanity metric.”
- sanderjd 9y ago
  > anyone, including VCs and founders What about non-founder employees?
  - austenallred 9y ago
    Yes them too (I wasn’t a founder)
    - sanderjd 9y ago
      Are there any limitations to who can do what in the secondary markets? (Thanks for your answers to my questions - it's not easy to find information on this and I don't know anybody at a company like this to ask.)

sanderjd 9y ago

> I can say that I worked at a company that wasn’t in the top 50 and the market for shares was completely liquid. Most of the time at $100m+ valuation it should pretty active. In the top 50 what? The top 50 private companies?

austenallred 9y ago
The top 50 YC companies as measured by valuation