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I think the only way to stay true to a well-meaning mission statement is to not go public, but that’s kind of a non-starter for most VC backed companies. And ev
by opportune 8y ago
I think the only way to stay true to a well-meaning mission statement is to not go public, but that’s kind of a non-starter for most VC backed companies. And even if you do stay private for a long time, the death/departure/retirement of the founders would be likely to result in acquisition either by PE/a public company or preempt an IPO
- jniedrauer 8y agoAnother option, specifically for tech companies, is to create free products and use support contracts as a revenue generator. Companies that follow this model include Red Hat and Elastic. They've both been tremendously successful while adding a lot of good to the world. The open source community keeps them honest.
- SwellJoe 8y agoI'm not sure I buy that. The idea behind a public company is (in theory) much more democratic than a closely held company, and it used to be that public companies were viewed and regulated that way. But, when the vast majority of shares are held by a few, and when regulatory authority has been decimated, it loses any sense of democratic responsibility. We kinda have the worst of both worlds.