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Problem Statement

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Information is free, but value is jailed.

Everyone knows SpaceX is winning. Everyone knows Stripe is the internet’s GDP. But only 0.01% of the world can trade on this truth.

The most significant wealth creation of the past decade has occurred in private markets. Companies like SpaceX, Stripe, and ByteDance have grown from startups to $100B+ valuations entirely in the private realm, with retail investors locked out until (if ever) an IPO occurs.

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE VELVET ROPE OF PRIVATE MARKETS │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Value Captured Before IPO │
│ ├── Founders & Early Employees: 30-40% │
│ ├── Venture Capital (Series A-D): 40-50% │
│ ├── Late-Stage Private Equity: 10-20% │
│ └── Public Market Investors: <10% (post-IPO scraps) │
│ │
│ By the time they ring the bell at NYSE, │
│ the 100x growth is already gone. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
传统世界的不公平:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SpaceX / OpenAI / Stripe │
│ │
│ VC / 家办 / 高净值 → 轻松买到 → 10x 回报 │
│ 普通人 → 门槛 $1M+ → 只能看热闹 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
核心情绪:
├── 愤怒:"为什么 VC 能买,我不能?"
├── 不公:"Wall Street 的围墙把我们挡在外面"
└── 渴望:"用 $100 也能参与 SpaceX 的成长"

Private markets satisfy two things: Ego and Inefficiency.

Bankers charge 5% fees to gatekeep fast-growing companies. Employees are held hostage by 4-year cliffs and 10-year IPO timelines. Capital is trapped in a “Black Box.”


MetricReality
Average time to IPO12 years (was 4 years in 1999)
Value captured pre-IPO80-95%
Minimum to access secondary$100K - $5M
Accredited investor threshold$1M net worth or $200K income
Global “accredited” population< 2%
Global unicorn count1,200+ companies
Combined unicorn valuation$3.8 Trillion
Accessible to retail< 0.1%

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PRIVATE MARKET ACCESS PYRAMID │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌─────┐ │
│ ╱ ╲ │
│ Tier 1: │ Founders│ Direct equity grants │
│ ╲ ╱ │
│ └──┬──┘ │
│ ╱ ╲ │
│ Tier 2: │ VC Funds │ $10M+ fund commitments │
│ ╲ ╱ │
│ └───┬───┘ │
│ ╱ ╲ │
│ Tier 3: │Family Offices│ $5M+ via brokers │
│ ╲ ╱ │
│ └────┬────┘ │
│ ╱ ╲ │
│ Tier 4: │ HNW / Accred │ $500K+ secondary │
│ ╲ ╱ │
│ └─────┬─────┘ │
│ ╱ ╲ │
│ Tier 5: │ RETAIL │ ❌ NO ACCESS │
│ ╲ ╱ │
│ └─────────────┘ │
│ │
│ 98% of the world is at Tier 5 │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

A: Retail Investors (98% of global population)

섹션 제목: “A: Retail Investors (98% of global population)”

Alex, 26 years old, $5,000 to invest

Situation:

  • Sees news: “SpaceX valued at $180B”
  • Wants exposure to space economy thesis
  • Has $5,000 available to invest
  • Believes in the future, wants to participate

Current Options:

OptionReality
❌ Direct sharesImpossible
❌ Secondary market$100K minimum
❌ VC fundsAccredited only
⚠️ Public proxiesPoor correlation (Boeing? Lockheed?)
⚠️ Prediction marketsBinary, low limits, regulatory grey

Result: Watches from sidelines as wealth compounds for others. Peak FOMO.


David, 32 years old, $2M in vested options

Situation:

  • 5 years at Stripe, $2M in vested options
  • Company delays IPO indefinitely
  • Personal life needs liquidity (house, family, diversification)
  • 100% net worth tied to single illiquid asset

Current Options:

OptionReality
❌ Sell sharesCompany ROFR, transfer restrictions
❌ Bank loanIlliquid collateral rejected
⚠️ Secondary sale6-month process, 20-30% discount
❌ Hedge riskNo instruments exist

Result: Hostage to a single point of failure. WeWork employees learned this painfully when their $1M paper wealth went to zero.

The Unique Pain: David is the ONLY person who cannot bet against his own company’s valuation. Everyone else can stay away. David is trapped.


Mr. Chen, $50M AUM family office

Situation:

  • Wants 5% allocation to pre-IPO tech
  • Needs reliable sourcing and fair pricing
  • Has capital, lacks access

Current Options:

OptionReality
⚠️ Broker networksOpaque pricing, slow execution
⚠️ Secondary platformsLimited inventory, 30-day settlement
⚠️ Direct VCRequires relationships, fund commitments
❌ Price discoveryNo transparent market

Result: Pays 20-40% premium due to information asymmetry. Or misses allocation entirely.


Aisha, Singapore-based investor, $500K

Situation:

  • Wants exposure to US tech unicorns
  • Excluded from US-domiciled funds and platforms
  • Has capital and sophistication

Current Options:

OptionReality
❌ US secondary platformsKYC restrictions
❌ US VC fundsRegulatory barriers
⚠️ Offshore fundsLimited selection, high fees
⚠️ ADRsPost-IPO only — too late

Result: Systematically excluded from US innovation economy despite having capital and conviction.


Price Discovery in Private Markets
├── Funding rounds: Every 12-18 months (stale)
├── 409A valuations: Backward-looking, manipulated
├── Broker quotes: Wide spreads, selective disclosure
└── True fair value: Unknown until IPO/M&A
Result: Insiders know the price. You don't.
Secondary Market Landscape
├── Forge Global: US accredited only
├── EquityZen: $10K minimum
├── Carta: Company-controlled
├── SharesPost: Limited inventory
├── Broker networks: Relationship-based
└── Direct P2P: High friction, fraud risk
Result: Liquidity scattered across incompatible venues.
Traditional SecondaryTimeline
LOI SigningDay 0
Due DiligenceDays 1-14
Company ROFRDays 15-45
Legal DocumentationDays 45-60
Funds TransferDays 60-75
Share TransferDays 75-90

90-day settlement in an era of T+1 public markets and instant crypto settlement.


FeatureBenefit
PermissionlessNo accreditation gatekeeping
24/7 LiquidityAMM always available
Instant SettlementMinutes, not months
TransparentOn-chain, auditable
ComposableDeFi integrations possible
GlobalNo jurisdictional barriers
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE MARKET GAP │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ Traditional Finance Crypto Finance │
│ ───────────────────── ─────────────── │
│ Private Equity Access Permissionless DeFi │
│ Covered Warrants AMM Liquidity │
│ Institutional Grade Retail Accessible │
│ 90-day Settlement Instant Settlement │
│ │
│ ┌───────────────────────┐ │
│ │ PIPO │ │
│ │ Bridging the Gap │ │
│ │ │ │
│ │ "Wall Street won't │ │
│ │ let you buy SpaceX.│ │
│ │ Crypto will." │ │
│ └───────────────────────┘ │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The private market wealth gap is not a technical problem — it’s an access problem.

The infrastructure exists to tokenize assets, provide liquidity, and settle instantly. What’s missing is a compliant, user-friendly bridge between private market exposure and crypto-native capital.

The core emotion: Anti-establishment + Financial democratization.

“华尔街不让你买的,Crypto 让你买。” “用 $100 参与 SpaceX。”

PIPO fills this gap.


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