How investors can access private tech companies

P

Patrick Togun

Member
$100,000 invested in Anthropic about 3.5 years ago would be worth roughly $23.5 million today.

That's about 235x return.

The crazy part?

Most people think opportunities like this are only available to VCs. They're wrong.

Here are 5 ways regular investors get access to private tech companies (like Anthropic, SpaceX, Stripe, Databricks, OpenAI, etc) before they go public.

👇👇
 
1. Secondary Markets (The Anthropic Route)

This is how most people get access to large private companies.

Here's what happens:

An employee joined Anthropic 4 years ago.

They received stock.

The company is now worth billions.

But it's still private.

The employee wants money now.

Maybe they want to:
• Buy a house
• Diversify
• Pay taxes
• Reduce risk

So they sell some of their shares.

You buy them.

This happens through platforms like:
• Forge
• EquityZen
• Hiive
• Nasdaq Private Market

This is literally how people buy into companies like:
• SpaceX
• Anthropic
• Databricks
• Stripe
• Ramp

before IPOs.

The catch?

You're usually buying at billion-dollar valuations.

The company is already successful.

The upside is lower than earlier stages.
 
2. Directly From Founders

Before employees sell shares...

Before VCs invest...

Before TechCrunch writes about them...

There is a founder.

Usually raising from:

• Friends
• Family
• Angels
• Strategic investors

This stage is much more accessible than most people realize.

For example:

I'm currently in discussions with an investor who found me through X.

We are not fundraising.
We weren't looking for investors.

He followed what we're building, reached out, conversations started, and we're now close to finalizing a deal.

No VC introduction.
No investment banker.
No warm intro.

Just founder visibility and direct outreach.
This happens every day.

Where to find founders:

• X
• LinkedIn
• Startup communities
• Accelerator demo days
• Founder Slack groups
• Local startup events

This is where many of the biggest returns are made.

Risk: Very High
Potential Upside: Very High
Accessibility: High
 
3.
Angel Syndicates (Borrow Someone Else's Network)

You don't know the founder.

Someone else does.

An experienced investor finds a deal and opens it up to others.

Instead of investing $250k yourself, you might invest:

• $1k
• $5k
• $10k

This is how many professionals build startup portfolios.

You're effectively renting access to someone else's deal flow.

The biggest benefit:

You see deals you would never find on your own.

Risk: High
Potential Upside: High
Accessibility: Medium
 
4. Startup Crowdfunding (The Beginner Route)

This is the easiest way to get started.

Platforms allow everyday investors to invest small amounts into startups.

You probably won't find the next Anthropic here.

But you will learn:

• Startup investing
• SAFEs
• Convertible notes
• Cap tables
• Valuations

Think of this as startup investing school.

Before writing larger checks, many investors learn here.

Risk: High
Potential Upside: Medium-High
Accessibility: Very High
 
5. Venture Funds (The Passive Route)

Instead of finding startups yourself...

You invest in people whose full-time job is finding startups.

VCs:

• Source deals
• Meet founders
• Perform due diligence
• Build portfolios

You get exposure without doing the work.

The tradeoff?

Less control.

Management fees.

And you're one step removed from the actual companies.

Risk: Medium-High
Potential Upside: High
Accessibility: Low-Medium
 
Anthropic wasn't always worth hundreds of billions.

There was a time when it was just a few founders with an idea.

The same was true for:

• Stripe
• SpaceX
• Canva
• Databricks

The earlier you get access, the bigger the potential upside.

The challenge isn't finding the next Anthropic.

The challenge is putting yourself in the rooms where future Anthropics are being built.

Do research on how to spot high-potential AI startups before they become household names.
 
It's not really that easy; if it were, a lot of us would be rich.

Some platforms even promise to buy shares before the IPO but, you will never find any possible listing.
 
Mmachi Tobechukwu said:
It's not really that easy; if it were, a lot of us would be rich.

Some platforms even promise to buy shares before the IPO but, you will never find any possible listing.
Click to expand...
Like trying to buy when IPO is rumored or some docs are already filed to prep for IPO. That’s late.

Thats why the best time to get it is EARLY with the founders… BUT no one can 100% predict the winners.

Nothing is easy. Never said it was. I agree: if it was everyone would do it.
 
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