Eqvista
👤 Tomas Milar (Serial founder who ran Startupr (top HK incorporator) and bought IncParadise (US agent) — a captive pipeline of new startups.)🌐 sitetomasmilar.comLinkedIn
Every option-granting startup must buy a 409A. Eqvista hands out the cap table free, then sells the compliance.
Will it work? · our read
Owns the funnel. But 409A is a commodity Carta bundles for free, and the $22M revenue is an outside estimate Milar has never confirmed.
01How the money moves
Startupr and IncParadise incorporate startups
→
Free cap table pulls them into Eqvista
→
Paid 409A the IRS forces, renewed yearly
02The numbers
$270B+
assets under administration
founder
23,000+
companies on platform
founder
$0
outside funding raised
founder
All three are founder-stated; the revenue number is not among them — it stays an outside estimate. Founder Reports
About $22M ARR — Latka estimate, never confirmed by the founder.
03Weight class — CENTStap an axis
Control Mid
Owns its funnel and brand, but Carta sets the market price for a 409A.
04The key move
Own the funnel first
Rather than buy ads against Carta, Milar piped startups from Startupr and IncParadise — firms he already ran — into a free cap table, then upsold the 409A every funded company is legally forced to file.
fact
The counter-intuitive move
The funnel only seeds early users. Growing past his own incorporations means fighting Carta head-on, where 409A is bundled free with funding tools.
our read
05Where the moat is
Any firm can produce a 409A. Eqvista's defense sits upstream, in who owns the funnel.
Captive incorporation funnel (Startupr, IncParadise)IRS 409A safe-harbor demandFree cap table locks in switching costAnnual renewals = sticky recurring revenue
06How it diesmedium confidence
Carta already bundles 409As for near-zero, so Eqvista competes on price. The captive funnel caps out at Milar's own incorporation volume, and if IRS safe-harbor rules loosen, the forced demand fades. our read
Show evidence · counter
Evidence: 409A valuations are a commoditizing service that Carta bundles cheaply, so Eqvista competes largely on price and its revenue is an outside estimate, never confirmed by the founder.
Counter: 409A safe-harbor has been settled IRS policy since 2005 and shows no sign of loosening. Every new funding round re-triggers the valuation, and Carta's premium pricing leaves a durable opening for a cheaper bootstrapped challenger.
07Against rivals
Carta owns enterprise and brand; Eqvista undercuts it to win price-sensitive early-stage startups. our read
08Who uses it
Venture-backed startupsFounders granting stock optionsStartups between funding roundsFund and SPV administrators
★Would it work for you?
What forced-by-law product could you sell to a funnel you already control?
Eqvista's edge was distribution he already owned. Where do you already own the funnel? We don't score you — you answer.
🚀Use it as a launchpada prompt for your own AI
Copy → paste into your AI → then develop it freely in the conversation.
You are a sharp, honest startup strategist. Use the proven case below as a launchpad for MY idea — help me find my own angle, not copy it.
<my_profile>
Domain I know: [your domain]
My unfair advantage (access/audience): [your edge]
Interests: [your interests]
Resources & goal: [your resources] · [your goal]
</my_profile>
<case name="Eqvista" model="saas">
What it does: Eqvista sells IRS-mandated 409A valuations and a free cap table to venture-backed startups, funneled in from the founder's incorporation firms Startupr and IncParadise.
Why it won (moat): Its moat is distribution, not software: Tomas Milar routes newly-incorporated startups from businesses he already owns into Eqvista, then upsells the 409A they are legally forced to buy and renew.
Weakest axis (CENTS): 409A valuations are a commoditizing service that Carta bundles cheaply, so Eqvista competes largely on price and its revenue is an outside estimate, never confirmed by the founder.
How it could die: Eqvista dies if Carta's free 409A bundle wins on brand, the captive incorporation funnel maxes out, or IRS safe-harbor rules loosen and remove the forced demand.
</case>
<task>
Be a skeptical operator, not a cheerleader. No generic startup platitudes. If my angle is weak, say so plainly.
First, a reality check: markets like this mostly fail. State the honest base rate (how crowded/hard is this?) and the ONE specific thing that would have to be true for ME to be the exception — grounded in my profile above.
Then a compact table:
- Fit — does this pattern suit my edge, or fight my gap?
- Angle — my sharpest differentiation vs Eqvista (concrete, not "better UX")
- Distribution — exactly where my first 100 users come from (this is the hardest part — be specific, not "content marketing")
- Risk — its "how it dies" (above) in MY situation
Finish with one line: "The single thing to do next."
Use only the facts above; if data is thin, say so — never invent numbers.
Then stay with me and go deeper on whatever I ask — tech stack, rough cost & time, the smallest MVP to test, pricing, or timing.
</task>
✓ Copied — paste into your AI
👤Placeholders like [your domain] auto-fill from your profile — example values for now.Set up profile →
Sourcesupdated · daily
Founder Reports — Tomas Milar interview: bootstrapped 2018, 23,000+ companies, $270B AuA, $0 outside capital.Eqvista pricing — 409A tiers $990-2,590/yr; Premium cap table $2/stakeholder/mo.Latka — estimates about $22M ARR (2025), explicitly labeled unconfirmed (no founder interview).Growth Navigate — founder story: Startupr (Hong Kong) and IncParadise fed early Eqvista users.Forbes Finance Council — Tomas Milar, Founder, Eqvista Inc.
Revenue is NOT first-party disclosed. The only figure is Latka's estimate of about $22M ARR (2025), which Latka itself labels an estimation with no founder interview — so tagged Estimate, not independently confirmed. Founder-stated in interviews: 23,000+ companies, about $270-300B assets under administration, $0 outside funding, bootstrapped from his prior firms Startupr and IncParadise; he cited $50M+ only as a future ambition, not current revenue. Pricing ($990-2,590/yr for 409A, $2/stakeholder/mo) is from the live pricing page. The 'distribution moat via an owned incorporation funnel' framing is [our read] built on documented facts. No drama fabricated; Carta is the real competitive threat. We never score you.