In Virginia, I've used the website for the Office of the Clerk to look up the number of shares in a particular private company. I assume that companies in all states have to register the total number of shares, and that this information is public if you know who to ask. For CA, you might try something like http://kepler.sos.ca.gov/list.html . That said, if they really won't tell you the total number outstanding, you might want to be concerned :)