[sohailprasad]

Hi there, co-founder of Equidate here, happy to answer any questions you have.

We're well aware of Sandhill Exchange — they were akin to a prediction market — we're a market where employees and investors who own shares are able to get liquidity, and accredited investors are able to invest.

We've worked with our primary outside counsel, Lowenstein Sandler (an internationally-prominent securities law firm), to ensure our compliance with all regulation. As the article mentions, we've discussed Equidate with regulators since 2014, and this past January FINRA approved our purchase of a broker-dealer.

Finally, we've gone above and beyond to make sure our customers are protected. We have an exclusive underwriting agreement and insurance policy with Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurance company, to protect our investors from fraud.

It's very rare for a startup our size to have a full-time Chief Legal Officer & Chief Compliance Officer, and it's a testament to our efforts to get this right.

[amg9g6i72u]

Hey, I have some questions as a potential seller. I signed up and added some details about the options I have from my employer. There is a general lack of info about what I can do on the site. The "sell" action has some scary language that makes it sound like I need to immediately commit to selling a specific number of shares at a specific price before getting any more information. Would I need to pay any fees? Does demand exist for my shares, and at what price? Do I need to exercise my options before listing my shares? Is there any way I can find this information out before my shares vest? Do I need to actually sell my shares, which might alert my employer, or is it some kind of arrangement that gets around that? This might affect my decision for how long to stay with my employer.

I don't mean these questions to be critical, if this service works it could turn a source of frustrating uncertainty into cash.

[sohailprasad]

Hey! All very fair questions, thanks for pointing them out. We've tried to make our FAQ as comprehensive as possible, and it has answers for all of your questions: https://faq.equidateinc.com/

Feel free to reach out to [e-mail] if you have questions that are specific to you and we'd be happy to help!

[amg9g6i72u]

I think my mistake was making an account without looking at the FAQ first. I don't see any way to get to it from the logged-in UI.

[vadym909]

Can you explain in plain English what 'insider' information you publish and how you allow trading in private companies when this clearly is not possible elsewhere. And if it is possible why don't these companies just IPO.

[sohailprasad]

Sure thing. We share information about companies' stock prices, share counts, and valuations — data that has historically unavailable, inaccurate, and/or very expensive (tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year). We show you real-time news about these companies, and let you track the value of your portfolio if you're an investor or employee.

We've built tools to use this data: https://equidateinc.com/browse Without even signing up, you can answer questions like: "Show me Series B/C companies that have raised $10-100M, have a valuation of $100M-$1B, have less than 200 employees, with a B2B business model in the Transportation industry." We think that's awesome — whether you're an investor looking for investment opportunities, an employee looking for a new job, or a just doing research on companies, it can be incredibly powerful for the entire ecosystem to have access to this data and the tools to use it.

Companies don't IPO for a variety of reasons. Going public is a source of financing for companies — in recent years, with hedge funds and private equity firms participating in Series B/C/Ds++, there is a lot more capital available in the private market. New regulation has made it far more expensive to go public and to stay public. Going public is arduous on the company from the perspective of the time and attention it takes from management. And finally, once a company is public, they are subject to the whims of the market and have to answer to new investors who have a short-term focus on quarter-to-quarter earnings, often at the cost of not being able to have full autonomy to execute on their long-term vision.

[Arnt]

It's possible to trade in private companies. I've done it. What you need is a willing seller and a willing buyer.

Finding a willing other party is the trick, in part because a lack of information makes people wary of trading. So this company provides a little more information and a matchmaking registry.

[kriro]

My feeling is that you'd do extremely well if you focus on employee liquidity. I don't think that's your focus or overall vision but a well working and trustworthy place were employees can sell their options hassle free and not get slapped around with all sorts of taxes and fees seems to be missing. That market might get invalidated eventually if startups change their option strategies (YC provides good advice) but it seems like a great initial launching spot to grab some early adopters.