Ways to get your investment back are probably:
- company A is bought by company B, and then your shares will be sold to B
- the company A floats on a market, and then you can sell your shares whenever you want
- you find a private buyer for your shares in company A eg here maybe
- company A decides to pay a dividend to its shareholders (nb FT has never said they’d do this!)
But yes, it’s harder to get a good liquidity event when investing in private companies, compared to ones that are already public.