> wouldn't it have been just as bad (and perhaps worse??) if they had been public over the last couple years? Bad for who? The original investors would've gott

> wouldn't it have been just as bad (and perhaps worse??) if they had been public over the last couple years? Bad for who? The original investors would've gotten their exit at a superlative valuation, and with any eventual downturn, Stripe would've gotten to buy their own shares back at a discount. The bagholders would've been institutional investors, so I guess bad for all of us by proxy (401ks etc) but they would've made out like bandits.