Inside Private Secondary Markets with EquityZen’s Phil Haslett
Our recent QSBS, Solved episode featured Phil Haslett, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of EquityZen, a leading platform for secondary transactions in private company stock. The conversation revealed how secondary markets operate, who participates in them, and how they have evolved over the past decade.
How Secondary Markets Work
For many employees, founders, and early investors, paper wealth grows quickly at high-growth private companies but often remains inaccessible for years. Secondary markets provide a solution by creating a venue where those shareholders can sell a portion of their holdings to investors who want exposure to pre-IPO companies.
Unlike public markets, these transactions are less liquid and more complex. Trades typically occur in larger blocks, with minimums around $10,000, and closing timelines are measured in weeks rather than seconds. Still, the market fills a critical need, allowing shareholders to gain liquidity well before an IPO while giving investors a rare chance to participate in the growth of leading private companies.
“There are very few bullets to fire for tax benefits at that scale. With QSBS you can do it in a single transaction, and then do it again, and even stack it [with trusts and rollovers]. That’s pretty powerful.”
- Phil Haslett, Co-Founder | EquityZen
Who Participates in Secondary Transactions
Secondary markets bring together two groups: sellers who need liquidity and buyers seeking early access. On the sell side, the participants are most often employees, ex-employees, founders, and early investors. On the buy side, the market has grown beyond individual accredited investors to include family offices, RIAs, dedicated secondary funds, and large crossover institutions.
This shift means the pool of capital is deeper and more consistent than ever. Investors have recognized that many of today’s most valuable companies, from SpaceX to OpenAI, remain private for much longer than past generations, and secondary markets are often the only way to gain exposure.
How the Market Has Evolved
When EquityZen launched in 2013, few people realized that buying private company stock outside of a traditional venture round was even possible. Awareness has grown dramatically, and so has the infrastructure that supports these deals. Transaction processes are more standardized, costs have come down, and regulatory clarity has improved.
At the same time, the market has matured. Transactions that once required millions now start at $10,000, and what was once a space dominated by hobbyist investors is now an established asset class with institutional participation. Still, activity remains concentrated in the most visible private companies, echoing the way a handful of firms drive most returns in the public markets.
Takeaway
Secondary markets are no longer a niche part of the venture ecosystem. They are now a critical piece of how founders, employees, and investors manage equity in private companies. For shareholders, they provide a path to liquidity. For investors, they create access to companies that may already be worth billions before an IPO. And for those who qualify, the ability to pair secondary transactions with QSBS benefits can unlock some of the most significant tax savings available to entrepreneurs today.
