3 ms·

Are you familiar with EquityZen and Forge? If you're accredited, they can make it feasible to invest in a number of private companies. Companies can make that d

by ericd 6y ago

Are you familiar with EquityZen and Forge? If you're accredited, they can make it feasible to invest in a number of private companies. Companies can make that difficult by exercising their ROFR consistently, but many don't.

doanerock 6y ago
Wait can I really invest in stripe and buy shares before they go public using EquityZen? Is this correct?
- ericd 6y ago
  AFAICT Stripe is one of those that aggressively ROFRs. I’ve been trying to invest in them for a while, but no luck.
ve55 6y ago
It's an option to note, I haven't used them as I'm not sure I'd have a good chance of being able to get what I want (since obviously there has to be a seller for me to buy), and the fees also seem pretty notable (5%, and/or up to 2% annual), maybe with some other potential issues of distribution/ownership (it seems it's not equivalent to owning the shares, but owning part of another entity that does own the shares). But, it may be a lot nicer than nothing for some, so thanks for reminding me of it.
- ericd 6y ago
  The fees are actually a bit higher, 5% from the buyer and 5% from the seller. I haven’t seen a management fee with either of those, though, at least with the single issue purchases - their multi-company funds might be different. And you do own shares in an SPV instead of owning the shares outright, but that’s a lot of what makes the lower minimums possible. What ownership/distribution issues have you seen?
electriclove 6y ago
Have you used either? What did you buy and did any of them go public - what happened then?
- ericd 6y ago
  Yes, I’ve used both over the past few years to invest in SpaceX, NextDoor, and Cerebras. None of those have gone public, but I believe that once they do, the shares are transferred out of the SPV into a brokerage account.

3 ms·

Are you familiar with EquityZen and Forge? If you're accredited, they can make it feasible to invest in a number of private companies. Companies can make that d

by ericd 6y ago

doanerock 6y ago
Wait can I really invest in stripe and buy shares before they go public using EquityZen? Is this correct?
- ericd 6y ago
  AFAICT Stripe is one of those that aggressively ROFRs. I’ve been trying to invest in them for a while, but no luck.
ve55 6y ago
It's an option to note, I haven't used them as I'm not sure I'd have a good chance of being able to get what I want (since obviously there has to be a seller for me to buy), and the fees also seem pretty notable (5%, and/or up to 2% annual), maybe with some other potential issues of distribution/ownership (it seems it's not equivalent to owning the shares, but owning part of another entity that does own the shares). But, it may be a lot nicer than nothing for some, so thanks for reminding me of it.
- ericd 6y ago
  The fees are actually a bit higher, 5% from the buyer and 5% from the seller. I haven’t seen a management fee with either of those, though, at least with the single issue purchases - their multi-company funds might be different. And you do own shares in an SPV instead of owning the shares outright, but that’s a lot of what makes the lower minimums possible. What ownership/distribution issues have you seen?
electriclove 6y ago
Have you used either? What did you buy and did any of them go public - what happened then?
- ericd 6y ago
  Yes, I’ve used both over the past few years to invest in SpaceX, NextDoor, and Cerebras. None of those have gone public, but I believe that once they do, the shares are transferred out of the SPV into a brokerage account.