Astrella Blog

The private market is often considered an exclusive club. While it may tout accessibility for everyone, only those with substantial personal wealth or connections can reliably find their way in through a secret door. In fact, there are many qualified “accredited investors” who don’t realize they can participate in this asset class, because they do not know where to turn for information and investment opportunities. More and more companies are launching platforms to help open up and navigate this elusive market. But why is this taking so long?

The Great Resignation is making many employers nervous about the future of their businesses. With 38 million workers leaving their jobs and 25 major companies experiencing employee strikes, 2021 highlighted a major labor shift in the U.S. Companies, however, are far from powerless in this shift and can use several tools available to them to ensure they are seen as an “employer of choice.” Offering company stock to your workforce can be one effective way to retain your best employees, motivate your workforce, and attract top talent. Learn about the three top challenges for private businesses when establishing broad-based employee stock programs, plus the opportunities these challenges can create.  

Capitalization tables (or cap tables) provide an analysis of a company’s percentages of ownership, equity dilution, and value of equity in each round of investment by founders, investors, and other owners. Developing a cap table and making related decisions can be complicated and overwhelming. Failing to have a clear picture of your company’s share ownership is equivalent to mismanaging company finances. Without a detailed view of who owns what it’s impossible to understand your current and future positions. Many startups create cap tables using spreadsheets, which is ok (but still not ideal) when there are only 2 or 3 owners, but this doesn’t scale. Depending on which study you read, those spreadsheets contain mistakes 70-95% of the time.