Selling pre-IPO equity is rarely simple. In a private market marketplace, the company's transfer policy, ROFR, vesting status, share class, and the seller's tax position all interact, and the answers depend on the specific company. This is the playbook our seller-coverage desk runs every day.
Step 1 — Intake (one business day)
You tell us what you hold. Company, share class, approximate quantity, vesting status. No commitment, no documents. The intake call typically takes 15–20 minutes. We use it to map your position to the issuer's transfer policy and identify the structures that will work for your sale.
What to have ready: your most recent equity statement (Carta, Pulley, etc.), the company name, your share class, and a rough count. Don't worry if the count is approximate at this stage — we refine before signing.
Step 2 — Live bid book (within 24 hours)
After intake, we pull the current bid book on your name. You see the live bids, the last three closed comparable trades on this company, and the indicative range we think your position can clear at. You set a reserve price — the floor below which you won't sell.
This is where most sellers get the most useful information they've ever had on their position. Most pre-IPO holders have no visibility into where their shares are actually trading. Seeing the bid book changes the conversation.
Step 3 — Working the book (3–10 days, typical)
We work the buyer book against your reserve. Some trades clear at the highest bid in the first conversation; others involve negotiating share size, structure, and timing across multiple buyers. The desk handles all of it. You see what the desk is doing in real time and approve any negotiated terms before they're communicated to buyers.
Step 4 — Documentation and ROFR (parallel, 5–10 days)
Once you've accepted a bid, documentation begins. We run templates for common structures (direct, SPV, forward) so paperwork is fast. The ROFR process is initiated in parallel — we notify the issuer at acceptance, not at signing — so the issuer's review window runs concurrently with documentation rather than sequentially.
Step 5 — Settlement (1–5 days from clearance)
Once docs are signed and ROFR is clear, the buyer wires proceeds. Funds typically land in your account in one to five business days. The desk handles confirmation with the issuer's transfer agent.
What it costs you
Nothing. Listing is free. We charge a transaction fee on the buyer side at settlement, fully disclosed before you sign. You see your gross-of-everything proceeds before agreeing to anything.
What can go wrong, and what we do about it
What makes this work end-to-end is the depth of pre-cleared, pre-funded secondary market buyers standing behind every name we list — that's what compresses settlement from weeks of cold outreach to a few days against a live book.