3 ms·
I think the founders AirBnb and Uber are afraid to transition to being legit companies. The lack of IPO is just a part of it.
by benatkin 10y ago
I think the founders AirBnb and Uber are afraid to transition to being legit companies. The lack of IPO is just a part of it.
- bfwi 10y agoIf you're a profitable private company, aren't you legit?
- zenlikethat 10y agoIn some sense, yes, but check out Sarbanes-Oxley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarbanes%E2%80%93Oxley_Act. Public companies are under much more scrutiny in terms of compliance, and they have a certain type of pressure to post good quarterly results that private companies don't.
- csturtevant 10y agoWhat is the incentive to go public in today's environment other than an initial fundraising, and an unpredictable monetary bonus for employees? Edit: Appended another question.
- harryh 10y agoThat is how most investors cash out and turn a theoretical return into an actual one. It also makes the value of your corporate equity much clearer which can enable acquisitions.
- jimmywanger 10y agoDepends. I think with the increased scrutiny as a public company, you have much less wiggle room for creative accounting tricks.
- nradov 10y agoPublic listings or lack thereof are orthogonal to corporate legitimacy. Cf. Enron and SAS.