Earlier today, we talked with Phil Haslett, the cofounder and now chief strategy officer of EquityZen, a 10-year-old, New York-based secondary marketplace that connects accredited buyers with privately held company shares that their owners — including founders, employees, and VCs — are looking to sell.
It’s a tough business to be running right now, competing as it is with shares of publicly traded companies that are selling at fire-sale prices compared with a year ago and are far more liquid. Indeed, like a lot of outfits, EquityZen last month conducted a sizable layoff, parting ways with 27% of its then 110-person team.
Still, Haslett believes adamantly that the secondary market will only grow bigger over time . . once it gets over this very big hump. More on wha …
