We co-founded Zag together, and I was the COO of CarsDirect. Towards early 2007, Scott and I had taken Zag to a level of some measure of stability, and we were thinking about the next thing. trillion asset class---we realized there was a real opportunity here. Do Yesterday, Santa Monica-based SharesPost (www.sharespost.com) launched a new service of particular interest to the venture capital and high tech startup market, a new, online service which facilitates the buying and selling of private company stock. We caught up with Greg Brogger , the firm's CEO, to understand

With the economy in shambles, people scared for their jobs, and layoffs to the left and right, I was struck by a story that Scott Painter (currently CEO of Zag and TrueCar, and prior CEO of CarsDirect) made in a recent private gathering I was at of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and service providers. He explained how he often speaks at classes at business schools and entrepeneurship classes, and asks the audience to stand up, asking: Are you an optimist or a pessimist? If you’re a pessimist, sit down. Are you willing to risk everything you have for your company?