It is very important to define how you will or can exit before investing in a small company for a variety of reasons. Because of the illiquid nature of the investment, and the very fact that you cannot just go online to redeem your shares, you must consider how you could exit the investment after some time. The investment may not see any returns or dividends for many years, according to many experts, and may be rather difficult to sell. It is best to discuss and agree on several different exit strategies for a liquidity event, such as the eventual merging with another company, the selling of shares at a specific valuation to another partner or to the company itself, an initial public offering of equity on the public markets, opening up investment opportunities to new partners, selling equity to employees, etc.