It depends on the situation. Being private means the company doesn't have to follow compliance rules strictly. A good example of that is accounting rules. The

It depends on the situation. Being private means the company doesn't have to follow compliance rules strictly. A good example of that is accounting rules. There are tons of companies out there which show non-GAAP profitability. But non-GAAP actually means companies can ignore stuff like ESOPs etc to create their balance sheets. When it comes to creating GAAP reports these same companies tend to be unprofitable by a large margin. Then there is the flip side too. Even if the company is profitable but not profitable enough. Let's say a hypothetical $1 in profit. And then company needs more than $1 to keep it afloat but no investor is interested. Then they have two options - raise debt or go public and raise money. Out of the two going public is slightly better.