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There's two main incentives to go public: raising money and liquidity. They don't need to tap public markets to raise money. And investors are likely OK holdin

There's two main incentives to go public: raising money and liquidity. They don't need to tap public markets to raise money. And investors are likely OK holding off on liquidity if the valuation continues to rise. Going public typically requires a significant amount of effort across the company, which can reduce focus on other initiatives key to growing the business.

tempsy 7y ago
I'm not sure what Stripe's policy is on selling shares on secondary markets, but another reason is that at some point employees need liquidity too.
- thr0waway43234 7y ago
  Look at the valuation increases: Almost 2x year to year for quite a while. I don't expect most people seeing that kind of valuation increases looking to liquidate any part of their position unless they really can't help it. If their fundamentals growth slowed to rates resembling the regular market, then sure, but as is, all a company with that growth rate might need is let tenured employees add, say 5% of their equity to the round so they can get a bit of liquidity to keep them quiet.
  - tempsy 7y ago
    No one can predict what the price will be in a year. Diversifying before a possible recession would be prudent, especially since payment processing volume is presumably highly correlated with consumer spending.
  - GhostVII 7y ago
    That sounds a lot like investing based on the previous performance of the stock, which isn't a great investment strategy. I would never want a significant portion of my net worth in a single asset, regardless of how it has performed in the past.
  - ryanmercer 7y ago
    >Look at the valuation increases: Almost 2x year to year for quite a while. I don't expect most people seeing that kind of valuation increases looking to liquidate any part of their position unless they really can't help it. I'd rather take 2x whatever today than 0x nothing when the company folds tomorrow/in a month/in 5 years never having gone public.
- babl-yc 7y ago
  Definitely. Some companies that have been private for a long time allow their employees to sell a percentage of their stock in these later private rounds. It's not necessarily the same price you'd get on the public markets, but it can help give employees some liquidity.

tempsy 7y ago

I'm not sure what Stripe's policy is on selling shares on secondary markets, but another reason is that at some point employees need liquidity too.

thr0waway43234 7y ago
Look at the valuation increases: Almost 2x year to year for quite a while. I don't expect most people seeing that kind of valuation increases looking to liquidate any part of their position unless they really can't help it. If their fundamentals growth slowed to rates resembling the regular market, then sure, but as is, all a company with that growth rate might need is let tenured employees add, say 5% of their equity to the round so they can get a bit of liquidity to keep them quiet.
- tempsy 7y ago
  No one can predict what the price will be in a year. Diversifying before a possible recession would be prudent, especially since payment processing volume is presumably highly correlated with consumer spending.
- GhostVII 7y ago
  That sounds a lot like investing based on the previous performance of the stock, which isn't a great investment strategy. I would never want a significant portion of my net worth in a single asset, regardless of how it has performed in the past.
- ryanmercer 7y ago
  >Look at the valuation increases: Almost 2x year to year for quite a while. I don't expect most people seeing that kind of valuation increases looking to liquidate any part of their position unless they really can't help it. I'd rather take 2x whatever today than 0x nothing when the company folds tomorrow/in a month/in 5 years never having gone public.
babl-yc 7y ago
Definitely. Some companies that have been private for a long time allow their employees to sell a percentage of their stock in these later private rounds. It's not necessarily the same price you'd get on the public markets, but it can help give employees some liquidity.