One of the things that may get lost among all the hubbub when a company is 'going public' is that the business can now be owned, in part, by its greatest fans.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
In fact, I believe the first companies that make an effort to develop an authentic, transparent, and meaningful social contract with their fans and customers will turn out to be the ones that are the most successful in the future. While brands that refuse to make the effort will lose stature and customer loyalty.
If I ever took a business public, I wouldn't want to take the shares off the table. I don't want people thinking I'm doing it just to make money and then going to run for the hills. I think that's a very important distinction.
It's a special thing to be a public company.
Even if a company is taken private, at some stage people want to make it public.
Once investors come in, it's hardly your company anymore!
Fans don't like owners. They know they are somewhere - actually, in Germany, some owners are anonymous. Fans don't sympathize with owners, so ownership stays in the back.
In my experience, there are only two valid reasons to take a company public: access to growth capital and investor fatigue.
I think good companies can navigate being public and doing the right things for their customers.
There's not a whole lot of advantage for a company to be public.
The fans have to realize that as opinionated as y'all are in the way you want it, the company is the same way, and they're gonna do what they wanna do... at the end of the day, I'm just a guy getting rich.