PrivateTechShares

PrivateTechShares is a free resource hub for founders and employees who hold equity in private tech companies, offering valuation tools, dilution and tax guides, and step-by-step preparation for selling private shares. It runs on the web with no sign-up required for its calculators and guides.

What is PrivateTechShares?

PrivateTechShares is an educational toolkit and guide library for people holding equity in private technology companies. Users input details such as their last funding round, share count, and grant type, and the site returns a realistic value range for their stake, dilution estimates, and exit waterfall outcomes. It covers both US and European equity situations, including ISO/AMT exercise considerations, and is built from the operators' own experience with private share sales.

Key Features

• Equity valuation estimator — produces a discount-based value range for shares or options from your last round and share count, free and without sign-up.
• Dilution calculator — shows how later funding rounds shrank your ownership slice, illustrated on the site with an example dropping €198,000 to a lower post-dilution figure.
• Exit waterfall calculator — estimates what employees actually receive after investor liquidation preferences are applied.
• ISO/AMT exercise calculator — one of four free calculators covering exercise and tax scenarios.
• Equity Navigator — a four-question quiz that routes you to the guides and tools matching your situation.
• Company guides — 250+ pages covering US pre-IPO and EU unicorns such as OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Stripe, Databricks, Revolut, Monzo, Helsing, Anduril, Celonis, Rippling, Mistral AI, Scale AI, N26, Trade Republic, Discord, Perplexity, Glean, Whatnot, and Vinted.
• Country tax guides — 8 tax guides spanning US and European jurisdictions.
• Equity Toolkit — a paid Europe/US edition bundle with the documents, letter templates, tax guides, and a step-by-step checklist for preparing a private share sale.

Who is it for?

• Startup employees with stock options or RSUs — checking whether a grant is worth anything and what it would net after exercise and tax.
• Founders — tracking how much later rounds diluted their stake before a liquidity event.
• Departing employees — determining whether ex-employees can still sell shares and what the sale costs.
• Shareholders facing a tender offer — deciding whether to accept an employee tender offer.

What can you do with PrivateTechShares?

• Value a grant: Enter your last round, share count, and holdings to get a realistic pre-sale value range.
• Measure dilution: See how much a new funding round shrank your slice using the dilution calculator.
• Model an exit: Run the exit waterfall to see what remains after investor preferences.
• Prepare a sale: Work through the Equity Toolkit checklist, documents, and letter templates before approaching a buyer.

Pricing

The calculators, company guides, tax guides, and Equity Navigator are free with no sign-up. The Equity Toolkit, covering private share sale preparation in Europe and US editions, starts from €39.

FAQ

Is PrivateTechShares free?

The valuation, dilution, exit waterfall, and ISO/AMT calculators are free and require no sign-up, as are the 250+ company guides, 8 country tax guides, and the Equity Navigator. Only the Equity Toolkit, which bundles sale documents, letter templates, and a checklist, is paid, starting from €39.

What does the dilution example on the homepage show?

The homepage illustrates dilution with a stake shown at €198,000 before later rounds, reduced by roughly €42,000 after later-round dilution. The dilution calculator lets you run the same estimate on your own share count and funding history.

Which companies does PrivateTechShares cover?

It publishes guides for 250+ private companies, split into US pre-IPO names and EU unicorns. Examples include OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Str