

FarmVille, Mafia Wars maker Zynga worth $3 billion, says trading site SharesPost - ilamont
http://venturebeat.com/2010/02/18/zynga-farmville-sharespost-mafia-wars/

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charlesju
The only problem with sites like these is that there is an inherent incentive
to boost the theoretical price of a private company beyond all reasonable
valuations because

(1) They get ridiculous press like the one above that plays off their
sensationalist valuations.

and

(2) Companies are more willing to use their sites as guidelines if they
overshoot their own internal realistic models. Which is ultimately their
business model.

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synnik
It also isn't an open market. Did I read that right that people owning shares
in a private company need to put them up for sale? So the supply of shares is
limited vs a public company.

First off, many shares aren't going to be transferable due to vesting
schedules, agreements, or other logistical details. Even if they are
transferable, many holders probably don't know that there is even a market on
which to sell them.

I've got to believe that the fraction of shares truly available make for a
very short supply compared to any public company.

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lanstein
Does anyone know if there's a way to monitor share prices on sites like
SharesPost and SecondMarket without dealing with finding a Purchaser
Representative up front?

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lpolovets
I have a member account on SharesPost. It's free and I can view bid/ask prices
without having had to talk to anyone.

~~~
lanstein
Perfect, good to know. I've only looked into SecondMarket and incorrectly
assumed all secondary markets enforced the SEC regs up front.

