Glossary
409A Valuation
409A valuations provide fast-growing private companies with an independent and defensible fair market value for common stock, helping ensure IRS compliance, avoid tax penalties, set fair option strike prices, and build confidence among new hires and investors.
Unicorn
Unicorns are private startups valued at over $1 billion, offering investors the opportunity for rapid value appreciation and strong exit potential, attracting LP interest and media attention while funds evaluate fundamentals, negotiate minority stakes, and plan for secondary sales or IPO outcomes.
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV)
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) allow multiple investors to pool capital into a single deal while limiting liability, simplifying the company’s cap table, and enabling access to larger opportunities, typically managed by a lead investor who handles legal, compliance, and pro rata returns.
Cap Tables
Cap tables provide a detailed view of company ownership, including equity stakes, options, and convertible securities, helping investors understand dilution, control, liquidation preferences, and potential exit outcomes when evaluating fundraising rounds and post-money scenarios.
Pre-IPO
Pre-IPO investments offer institutional investors access to private companies shortly before going public, creating opportunities to invest at a discount, capture potential IPO gains, enhance portfolio returns, and diversify exposure while evaluating allocation terms, lock-up restrictions, and post-listing exit scenarios.
Late Stage Investing
Late-stage venture investments focus on mature private companies nearing IPO or acquisition, offering investors lower risk, faster potential liquidity, and access to established high-growth businesses through careful manager selection, strong deal pipeline evaluation, and structured preferred share terms.
Venture Capital
Venture capital investments focus on early-stage companies with strong growth potential, giving institutions access to innovation, diversification, and the opportunity for outsized returns through careful manager selection, due diligence, and ongoing tracking of portfolio performance.
Alternative Investments
Alternative investments provide access to private equity, hedge funds, real assets, and other non-traditional asset classes, helping investors diversify portfolios, improve risk-adjusted returns, lower public market correlation, and tap into unique strategies and alpha opportunities through rigorous manager selection and ongoing performance monitoring.
Jump-Off Point
A recent valuation or transaction can serve as a benchmark “jump off point,” helping late-stage investors identify inflection moments where accelerating growth supports higher valuations, maximizing returns, informing exit timing, and shaping value creation strategies.
Derived Price
Derived pricing uses recent market data, secondary trades, implied valuations, and demand signals to estimate the value of private company shares, helping buyers and sellers establish fair expectations, support negotiations, and ensure more accurate market-based pricing references.
No results found for this filter, please select another type
PM Insights regularly publishes research that reveals market trends across 50+ sub-sectors including SaaS, FinTech, Entertainment, Data, & more.
Subscribe to our newsletterReady to see it in action?
Schedule a demo with one of our experts