01 Beginner guide
A startup share is not a public stock
Follow Lin from an exchange-traded stock to a private-company share, and learn why ownership is not the same as cash.
Read the guideA reader’s guide to private-market ownership
Before you consider a startup investment, understand what you would own.
Startup ownership is not one thing. A share, a contract for future equity, and an interest in a pooled vehicle can give you different rights, different waits, and different ways to lose money.
Private-company shares, SAFEs, special-purpose vehicles, and funds are different legal relationships. This educational publication explains the basics for venture-curious Chinese professionals and founders living in the United States.
Use these guides to understand the rights, risks, and liquidity limits of startup shares, SAFEs, SPVs, and funds.
Open the learning notesBeginner guide
Start with the basics
Four plain-language guides to the things a startup headline or pitch deck may not explain.
02 Beginner guide
Your salary and your startup exposure
Map how a job, employer shares, savings, rent, and private startup exposure may be affected by the same company shock.
Read the guide03 Beginner guide
A share, a SAFE, an SPV, or a fund?
Follow four fictional $10,000 examples to see the legal relationship behind a startup investment—and where fees may appear.
Read the guide04 Beginner guide
What a startup headline leaves out
Look beyond a fictional AI startup’s customer and financing headline to margins, concentration, valuation, and dilution.
Read the guideWhy this publication exists
China US VC is a small educational publication about the mechanics behind private-company ownership. It is for people who want to understand the legal relationship and practical limits before deciding what questions to ask next.
About this publication