Controlled Secondary Liquidity for Niche B2B
Charly Kevers, CFO at Carta, on progressive price discovery and investor relations
The core implication is that going public is often a distribution and branding decision, not just a financing decision. For a niche B2B company that already knows its buyers, does not need mass consumer trust, and can raise capital privately, controlled secondary liquidity can solve the main private market pain points, employee cash out, cap table cleanup, and price discovery, without taking on the full cost and distraction of being public.
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The real job of private liquidity here is not visibility, it is workflow. It gives CFOs a way to let employees and early investors sell some shares, bring in later stage investors without issuing new stock, and build a trading history that can anchor future fundraising, debt, M&A, or a direct listing.
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This makes the most sense when the company sells to a narrow set of buyers. If customers are a few enterprises, funds, or industry insiders, public market visibility adds less value than it does for a consumer brand that benefits from analyst coverage, media attention, and broad recognition.
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The model still requires some disclosure, but on a controlled basis. The company can share operating data with a selected pool of investors instead of broadcasting everything to the world, which is why private, issuer controlled markets are especially attractive for companies in specialized markets.
Over time this points toward more companies behaving like semi public businesses before any listing. The likely winners are specialized software and infrastructure companies that stay private longer, run regular liquidity programs, and only go public when public markets add something concrete, brand reach, acquisition currency, or a cheaper pool of capital.