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Comment by bumbledraven | Hacker News Reader

> my [startup] equity was worth about 50% of my salary each year.

The equity of many AmaGooFaceSoft employees is also worth at least 50% of their yearly salary.

Yes but that's if I were to sell it after ~1 year at a company you've likely never heard of. If I wait 3 more and there's a large exit it could easily be worth millions.

Do you have a convenient way to sell your startup equity after ~1 year? (i.e. before there's an exit)

Not convenient, but definitely possible. Equidate is a fairly open market for that kind of thing.

There is a developed secondary market for venture-backed companies' stock. (Source: I do this.)

I thought private stock transactions were subject to board approval, or is that just Canada?

Depends on the terms. In most startups board can only match the offer.

It depends on the company. Some companies are quite liberal with transfers. If you have a bona fide offer, they'll amend the cap table. For others, my having a relationship with the founder or Board is critical. A good starting point for American companies is is their Certificate of Incorporation. If you exercised options, the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement should also contain terms, e.g. the company's transfer policy or right of first refusal.

I have never heard of a Canadian company looking to raise capital structuring itself under Canadian law. Commonly, you'd have a Canadian law subsidiary wholly owned by a Delaware corporation.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. Hire a lawyer before selling private stock. Do not take investment or legal advice from my Internet comments; they are neither.

There's an EU startup that's trying to create a blockchain based market for shares of pre IPO startups: https://markets.funderbeam.com/market

Lol.. good luck.

That is an exit of sorts.

But there's also a much higher risk that your options will be dilluted to nothing.

> if your company isn't one of the top companies of the decade

GGP covered that option quite nicely. Those are companies that are clearly at the top companies of the decade, maybe even longer.

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