Unicorn CEO: "IPO is not the goal" but maybe if you just worked a little harder

if there's no upside, why are you even there? might as well rest and vest at FAANG

> would you work at a startup that actively didn't want to IPO?

I'd be much more likely to work at a startup that didn't want to IPO. I see how striving for and getting to an IPO affects how a company operates, and that's not at all my cup of tea.

You would much rather work at a company that is growing and able to stay private than a company trying to IPO as early as possible. Unstable growth or minor dips are typical, especially with volatility in the world right now, and going public makes you extremely, extremely exposed to minor performance variance. The last thing you want is leadership destroying long-term value in pursuit of quarterly targets but this is exactly what going public incentivizes.

It's a rare company that can train their public investor base to behave rationally and allow them to invest in future growth even at the expense of immediate quarterly performance.