Asymmetric Access in Private Secondaries
Arjun Sethi, co-founder of Tribe Capital, on investor allocation strategies and democratizing access to capital
This line gets at the core problem in private secondaries, the buyer often has stories, not facts. Outside a company sponsored process, investors are usually piecing together price, growth, and seller motivation from brokers, SPVs, and old round data rather than current operating metrics. That is why Tribe mostly buys in its own portfolio or in companies it already knows well, where prior underwriting and direct relationships turn rumor into something closer to diligence.
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The market has long been dominated by brokered, one off deals. Most secondary volume still comes through hand matched transactions, often with hefty fees and thin price discovery, which leaves buyers guessing what is real and what is salesmanship.
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The safest version of a secondary is issuer aligned. Later market participants repeatedly converge on the same point, companies that cooperate, approve buyers, and provide a clear path for transfer reduce the shadow market dynamic that pushed earlier trades into forwards, side letters, and informal networks.
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Access itself becomes the moat. Secondary investors often first invest in a company at seed or Series A so they can earn information rights, relationships, and cap table trust early, then use that position to buy more later when liquidity appears.
The direction of travel is toward more structured liquidity, fewer blind broker chains, and more company controlled programs. As private companies stay private longer, the winners in secondaries will be the firms that can pair distribution with trusted access, because better information turns a gossip market into a real asset market.