When companies issue stock that is not registered with the SEC, the easiest way to do it is by limiting the investors to accredited investors.
So you typically are dealing with non-public companies that are illiquid.
Just because you are accredited does not mean that you should put any money into companies at this level.
Most VC funds assume 8 or 9 out of 10 will go bust, so you need to limit this to a small percentage of your net worth, which means you really ought to be 5 or 10 times the accredited investor standard for it to make sense to be investing in these.
So you typically are dealing with non-public companies that are illiquid.
Just because you are accredited does not mean that you should put any money into companies at this level.
Most VC funds assume 8 or 9 out of 10 will go bust, so you need to limit this to a small percentage of your net worth, which means you really ought to be 5 or 10 times the accredited investor standard for it to make sense to be investing in these.