IPOs are good for the ego because it allows founders to liquidate their equity without selling control of the company to someone else. You will need to cash out

IPOs are good for the ego because it allows founders to liquidate their equity without selling control of the company to someone else. You will need to cash out eventually. Dividends may not be lucrative enough. Also, eventually your employees with stock options and investers will want to see liquidity to stick with you. Finally, you may not have a choice. A company must become public after it has 500 shareholders. This can happen if you have enough investors and enough employees exercising their options early (presumably because they have left the company).