Q. What information do I need to provide in order to buy the shares?

A. We need to know a bit about you – name, email, phone, proof of ID. The government requires that we know our customers, so we have to collect that from you. We also need the names and email addresses of the people you want to give shares to. As soon as we have that from you, and we’ve collected payment, we’ll be in touch with them, and we’ll collect the information we need to put them on our shareholder roles.

Q. What was that you said about capital gains taxes?

A. The shares we are issuing right now are called Qualified Small Business Stock. If you sell your shares after a five-year old, they’re exempted from federal capital gains taxes. It’s the same for most states. Shorter holds may give you a partial exemption.

Q. What, again, is venture capital?

A. Venture capital is money that backs early-stage private companies, just while they’re getting started. Even though it might sound a bit risky, venture capital has been the best performing asset of all asset classes over many years.

Q. Did you say the share price is going up?

A. Yes, after the new year, we will raise the price for new share purchases.

Q. Where’s the rest of the team today?

A. It’s usually Eric White, our president and the head of our investment team, and Alice Neuhauser, our chief financial officer. Eric is with a prospective portfolio company today, and Alice is tied up on money matters. That’s what happened as Seismic has grown. The fourth indispensable member of our founding team is Yann Geron, our chief legal officer. He keeps the legal wheels turning.