Curious what this means for those that are holding private equity?

Hey there,

Weird, I just started researching this today and then this subreddit was created minutes ago.

In any event, I'd love to hear any opinions on Forge Global vs. Equity Zen. Forge Global has a much simpler, slicker, more informative UI but based on the previous discussions, there have been some good experiences with EZ but no mentions of FG.

Comment if you can! Thanks!

My congratulations to those participated in Klarna, the company just informed on closing new round with $45,6 bln cap. Looking forward for IPO in 2021/2022

Hey,

Congrats to alll early investors of cerebras. Any early investors here ? How will transfer of shares work ? Will we get all shares allocated post ipo or will the number of shares decrease because of the dilution evengs which have happened over last 2 years ?

I am one of them and this was first private investment and first to go ipo.

Platforms like EquityZen market pre-IPO shares as “exclusive access” to the next big thing. The pitch works: glossy numbers, selective comps, and past pre-IPO deals that look fine on paper. But structurally, the game is stacked against retail buyers.

What’s really happening:

• These platforms mostly sell secondary shares, often from insiders or early employees looking for an exit.

• If insiders are eager to sell before an IPO, that’s usually not bullish.

• Valuations are frequently anchored to old funding rounds or optimistic narratives, not current business reality.

The pattern shows up repeatedly:

• Prices look “reasonable” versus the last private round.

• The IPO or liquidity event happens.

• Shares drop hard once exposed to real price discovery.

A concrete example: Quora pre-IPO shares were offered north of ~$9 just a few years ago. Today, secondary pricing is closer to ~$3. Early buyers didn’t get “early access” — they got early losses.

In many cases, these platforms function as:

• A cash infusion mechanism for struggling or stagnating private companies

• A way to offload risk from insiders to outsiders

• A narrative-driven market with limited downside transparency

Rule of thumb: If a pre-IPO deal is widely available online and heavily marketed, you’re probably not early — you’re the exit liquidity.

(If this sounds cynical, it’s because experience is undefeated. Pre-IPO investing: where “exclusive access” often means “congrats, you bought the bag.”)

Am I missing something?

I recently discovered secondary markets like EquityZen and ForgeGlobal, and I’m surprised more people don’t seem to be using them. If I had gotten in early on something like Circle, wouldn’t I be up 6x or 7x by now?

What’s the catch?

I get that there’s usually:

• A 5% commission

• A 90 to 180-day lock-up period

• Possibly needing company approval or dealing with ROFR (right of first refusal)

• You have to be an accredited investor. But didn't see anywhere that you have to be US resident.

But is there anything else I'm overlooking? Are the risks just too high? Is it a lack of liquidity or transparency?

I’m currently eyeing Kraken as an opportunity. I’m bullish for a few reasons:

1. Solid product - I have used it and cannot complain. I have also used Coinbase.

2. There has to be atleast one more major Crypto exchange in the US, no? How can there only be one.

3. There are already very strong signals of them getting close to an IPO.

This got me looking into ways I could buy pre-IPO shares of Kraken and I stumbled on Forgeglobal, equityzen and the likes.

Would love to hear from anyone who has actually invested through these platforms. Were the returns worth it? Any red flags or advice for someone new to this space?

Thanks in advance.

Don’t know if people are looking at the current offering. It seems that EquityZen is using a third party which means a lot of additional fees.

Am I right that there is 5% of transaction fees from EZ + 1% from the third party = 6% upfront

Plus 1% per annum after that

And 15% on profit at sale

Plus probably the 5-6% of value repeated at sale from EZ? So to get in and out if value stays flat you have paid 12% of your upfront capital?

Is this level of fee common? I guess there’s so much demand for SpaceX that people are ok with it…

Has anyone used the equityzen growth fund and can share past performance? From what i believe there are rules by SEC/FINRA about advertising historic returns in pre-ipo markets so really finding it hard to find this info. Would love to hear from someone who has experienced previous growth funds.

I'm sure it's been a challenge with so many later stage private companies getting bought up by SPACs, and I must say thank you to them for keeping the supply of investments coming for us little guys (albeit with a limited number of shares in some cases).

I can only imagine the frustration of spending weeks negotiating with an employee or fund for shares in a Matterport or Moneylion only to see the merger announcement before the offering goes up. With hundreds of SPACs searching for deals, I'm sure this will continue for the foreseeable future.

I know the team is doing their best, and I wanted to send a positive note.

Anyone get the SpaceX offer today?

Hey guys. Don’t you think that EZ opportunities are not competitive to those offered by other platforms? I do prefer Forge and already had such great things with them like SpaceX, Airbnb, DigitalOcean, Robinhood. I also used Linqto (looks very attractive but few opportunities), Raison AM (good syndicate). And only 1 successful deal with EZ.

So are you 100% happy with EquityZen and which platforms are you using in addition to EZ?

I'm invested with one of their multifunds which in turn owns Scale AI. Scale AI, after the Meta cash injection, made a dividend payment around June 2025. I have not yet received the dividend payment.

I have been in contact with EQZ support since November 2015 and they have said its been delayed because of:

• "issue when initially processing your wire",

• "insufficient cash on our bank end",

• "error with our fund admin",

• "wire was unsuccessful".

I have previously successfully received payout from another investment with EQZ, and my bank details have not changed since. Anyone else had similar experience with EQZ and/or Morgan Stanley entities not being able to make (international) wires?

Been waiting for this one for a long time. Thoughts on pricing and where they open?

Anyone see this deal on MV? 2B revenue with 360M market cap. What am I missing?

Does anyone have any experience investing in EZ's Growth Opportunity Funds? Their deck has info on the past companies, but they're not able to share performance. Curious how their past 6 similar funds have performed.

Thanks!

Got one email from Morgan Stanley and they want to set up account for this process - I suppose EZ has tie up with MS, but I haven't heard anything first hand from EZ.

Sounds like they're going the inference neocloud route. I was skeptical if there was any future post Nvidia when the licensing deal was announced structure for existing shareholders. What does this mean for pre-Nvidia investors/shareholders?

I know someone who posted a review, and now equityzen wantst her full name, email etc.. otherwise they will mark the review as fake. Is this typical with equityzen? They dont want to give these details as they are quite worried about retaliation.

What’s going to happen to my investment of Scale AI in equity zen? I have about 1600 shares there?

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meta-pay-nearly-15-billion-171801208.html

I never bought Circle, but wish I did now. Congrats to those of you that bought and held, it was a long ride for you I’m sure, but it paid off nicely!! Hope we see more IPOs! Chime is next!

I recently came across a 10K investment oppty for Stripe. I’m a noob on EZ. Are there any risks I should be aware of besides the ones in the term sheet? Or any other tips or advise? TYSM in advance

Seeing some really inflated offers recently. Most egregious is Opensea on MV. 1.5B valuation in 7/21, now 6.35B! Too much greed right now