Capital·Mar 14, 2026·9 min read

Secondary Markets and the Retention Problem

How structured secondaries are quietly solving the equity-retention problem at growth-stage companies.

SJ
Sarah JenkinsContributor, The Signal

Long times to liquidity have created a structural problem at growth-stage companies: senior engineers and product staff with significant vested equity and no path to monetize it. Structured secondary programs — controlled, periodic, with clear participation rules — have emerged as one of the cleaner solutions, and the data on subsequent retention is encouraging.

The Dispatch

The Signal in your inbox

Join 42,000+ software leaders for a weekly briefing on the architectural shifts and economic trends shaping the next decade of SaaS.

No spam. One email a week. Unsubscribe at any time.