3 ms·
If you're public you must grow, if you're private you can choose when and how to grow based on what makes sense for the business. The only thing really pushing
by Spivak 4y ago
If you're public you must grow, if you're private you can choose when and how to grow based on what makes sense for the business. The only thing really pushing you is competitors and inflation. There are no shareholders/investors breathing down your neck for returns.
When you're private you can actually say, "you know what, I'm content where we are being filthy rich."
- vasco 4y agoBut why do you think "investors/shareholders" are bad and private owners, good? Private owners are just 100% owning shareholders, whatever notions you have about one group you should have about the other. You have no guarantee a private owner wouldn't speed up the enshittification process.
- consp 4y ago> You have no guarantee a private owner wouldn't speed up the enshittification process. Sure, but as a private company at least you control who who wants to do that and are not bound by the "the price must go up" behavior of the shareholders since you only care about the dividends (this is a oversimplification).
- vasco 4y ago> you control You who? The owner? > behavior of the shareholders The owner is a shareholder too. It's all the same thing, you're creating distinction where there is none. If anything a public company has way more controls and transparency. People usually cry when a company is taken private by private equity to squeeze every cent out of it. What do you think private equity is if not "a private owner not bound by shareholders"?
- snarf21 4y agoI understand your sentiment but human history has shown us that "being content being filthy rich" is short lived at best. It is a way of keeping score and even people who no longer need to work at all don't just want more money, they want a LOT more money.
- mlhpdx 4y agoPerhaps only the famous/notorious people you read about. The industry drives CEO behavior, not individuals or even one class of individuals.
- fisherjeff 4y agoYou can only comfortably say that if all of your co-investors are on board (or you have none - unlikely in Google’s case) and if you will never need to raise any additional capital for any reason. It’s very difficult to run a modern business, especially in tech, without being beholden to anyone.
- Spivak 4y agoAll true, although in some cases you can avoid the "need to raise capital problem" by using normal business loans rather than selling ownership stake. You still need to grow to pay back the loan but you don't have the problem of new investors with their hands in the pot making demands.
- fisherjeff 4y agoYes, but even then there’s a good chance your bank will impose covenants on you that are not necessarily aligned with your own goals.