Regardless of what price they quote in their emails, I’ve heard that Quid will only loan you a quarter of the FMV of your shares, at 15% APR (deferred) — plus 5.5% of your shares outright, which increases annually.

It sounds like a horrible deal.

100% of $0 is $0. Even 25% of $7.4m is $1.8m

Did you miss the key words of LOAN and 15% APR?

You should be able to get a non-recourse loan, i.e. where you never owe more than the stock is worth. That said, Reddit was one of the more secondary-unfriendly firms, if memory serves correctly, if you didn’t have Board or senior management connections.

it's a non-recourse loan though, so if Reddit didn't IPO and you can't pay, you don't owe money you don't have.

These shares weren’t ever worth $7.4m at FMV.

what was the 409a?

Did you really just ask for a 409a in a public forum? You do realize those are closely guarded secrets?