Venture Beat: Trying to sell shares in a private startup? Join the club!

By Matt Marshall

SharesPost is just the latest in a host of companies that are trying to make it easier to buy and sell shares in private companies.

Until recently, the assumption for most startups was that they’d get sold or go public in a reasonable amount of time — say six or seven years. That meant founders and executives of these companies didn’t really worry too much about finding an early way to sell shares.

But the dearth of IPOs — there have been some, but far fewer than in past years — has blown up that assumption and ushered in a set of companies trying to help founders and others sell their shares.

SharesPost says it has an online platform that is the “first to bring true liquidity” to the private equity market, by directly connecting buyers and sellers of private equity, and then automating the stock sale to the buyer. And it does this without charging commission. It has listings to buy and/or sell shares of several recognized private companies, including Facebook, Tesla Motors, SolarCity and XDX. As is the case for most exchanges, buyers must either be institutional investors or individuals with high net-worth, or about $100 million. The Los Angeles company hopes to charge a monthly subscription fee for buyers and sellers. (more)