Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
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Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#2Anyone remember Sandhill Exchange, and how badly they got slapped around by the SEC? I'd steer clear of this sort of thing until further notice.
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#3Anyone remember Sandhill Exchange, and how badly they got slapped around by the SEC? I'd steer clear of this sort of thing until further notice.
>"Sand Hill began as two Silicon Valley entrepreneurs creating an online business involving the valuation of private startup companies in the region along the lines of a fantasy sports league. But Gerrit Hall and Elaine Ou changed their business model multiple times, and earlier this year Sand Hill evolved to invite web users to use real money to buy and sell contracts referencing pre-IPO companies and their value.
Sand Hill sought people to fund accounts using dollars or bitcoins. Hall and Ou did not ask users about their financial holdings or limit the offering to users with any specific amount of assets. In fact, they wrote on the Sand Hill website: “We accept everybody regardless of accreditation status.” Hall and Ou intended to pay users who profited from their contracts. "
Interesting. Hadn't heard of this. Here's the SEC link: https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-123.html
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#4Anyone remember Sandhill Exchange, and how badly they got slapped around by the SEC? I'd steer clear of this sort of thing until further notice.
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.
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#5[deleted]
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#6Anyone remember Sandhill Exchange, and how badly they got slapped around by the SEC? I'd steer clear of this sort of thing until further notice.
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 o…
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.
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#7Anyone remember Sandhill Exchange, and how badly they got slapped around by the SEC? I'd steer clear of this sort of thing until further notice.
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 o…
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.
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#8How is this possible if most employee stock has right of first refusal built-in?
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#9How is this possible if most employee stock has right of first refusal built-in?
That's for transferring, the sale only. And the lack of transparency means we also don't know if "most" is really like that, no matter how standard your CEO said it was.
The three startups you worked for probably share some venture capital firm or related board member that copy and pasted the equity contract
But it didn't mean, necessarily, that condition is so prevalent or that much of a roadblock
Re: Equidate's new stock market for private tech offers in-depth data on startups
#10How is this possible if most employee stock has right of first refusal built-in?
That's for transferring, the sale only. And the lack of transparency means we also don't know if "most" is really like that, no matter how standard your CEO said it was. The three startups you worked for probably share some venture capital firm or related board member that copy and pasted the equity contract But it didn't mean, necessarily, that condition is so prevalent or that much of a roadblock
Dude. Bro. I advise other people on their stock grants, and see this all the time. Thanks for assuming I'm just a schlob.