Pre-IPO shares find a trading place - SharesPost

July 1, 2009

Imagine a lake formed by all the sweat equity earned by workers at Silicon Valley startups. Now imagine that lake frozen and dotted with shivering techies who can't figure out how to turn their equity into cash for a new coat in the coldest recession in generations.

Now a startup called SharesPost http://www.sharespost.com/ is trying to light a fire in the frigid economy with a novel members-only marketplace for willing sellers and buyers of shares issued in advance of an initial public stock offering, or IPO.

SharesPost debuted this month, coming out of a private beta with an initial transaction of 2,500 shares of Tesla Motors at $10 per share. Tesla, dubbed the "poster child of green mobility" on a research report published for SharesPost subscribers, was valued just over $1 billion in the deal.

By Scott Duke Harris, MEDIANEWS STAFF

Full Story: http://www.insidebayarea.com/business/ci_12722475