Forge, Hiive, EquityZen & Nasdaq Private Market — compared

A private company's shares aren't liquid. There's no exchange quoting a price every second, and you generally can't sell to just anyone — most startup stock and options come with transfer restrictions and a right of first refusal (ROFR) that lets the company block or redirect a sale. That illiquidity is fine as long as you're happy waiting for an IPO or acquisition. Increasingly, people aren't: companies are staying private for a decade or longer, and early employees and investors who need cash — for a house, taxes on exercised options, or just diversification — can't wait that long.

Secondary marketplaces exist to solve that specific problem. Instead of waiting for a company-wide exit event, a shareholder sells their existing stake directly to another investor, subject to the company's approval. The platforms below are the infrastructure that makes those individual trades findable, priced, and (mostly) compliant with securities law — each with a different model for who can participate and what it costs.

This page is the companion to our VC secondaries market guide, which covers how the market works at the fund level — GP-led continuation vehicles, LP stake sales, and NAV pricing. This page is about the specific platforms an individual employee or accredited investor actually opens an account on.

Every consumer-facing platform above — Forge, Hiive, and EquityZen — restricts access to SEC-defined accredited investors. That means net worth over $1 million excluding your primary residence, or income of $200,000/year ($300,000 joint with a spouse) in each of the prior two years with a reasonable expectation of the same going forward. Platforms typically verify this through a combination of self-attestation, tax documents, bank/brokerage statements, or a letter from a CPA or attorney.

A step above accredited investor status is Qualified Purchaser — generally $5 million or more in investments — which some fund structures on these platforms require, most notably certain Hiive vehicles. Nasdaq Private Market works differently again: it serves accredited investors and employee shareholders through company-sponsored programs, plus Qualified Institutional Buyers for larger institutional trading, but there's no general sign-up — access depends entirely on whether the company involved has set up a program there.

Spread and fees compound. A 2-4% Forge transaction fee, a 2.5-5.75%+ fee elsewhere, plus a bid-ask spread on top means the effective cost of a round-trip trade (buy now, sell later) can run into double-digit percentage points before the underlying company's value has moved at all.

Price transparency is limited. Unlike a public exchange, there's no continuously quoted market price for most private shares. Hiive's order-book format shows more live bid-ask data than a purely negotiated deal, but even there, the last trade you see may be stale or thin — a handful of shares changing hands doesn't establish a reliable market price the way public-market volume does.

The company can block or redirect the sale. Most private-company stock and option grants carry transfer restrictions and a right of first refusal. A company can decline to approve a buyer, require the shares be sold to an existing investor instead, or simply take weeks to review a transfer request — deals on these platforms often take 30-60 days to close for exactly this reason, and some fall through entirely if the company doesn't sign off.

You're buying without full company access. Secondary buyers typically don't get the same due-diligence data room a primary investor in a priced round would — no board seat, no updated cap table access, and often outdated financials. You're pricing the deal on public reporting and whatever the platform discloses, not a fresh look at the company's books.