On IPO, Make Sure that Monkeys Can Run the Train
We went public (PayPal) just before Sarbanes-Oxely and it was very onerous. Once you go public it is a big distraction to staff, they are checking their stock price all the time. If it is down, they are depressed and when it is up, nothing can touch you.
On the day of Tesla’s IPO, I thought that its strongly prohibiting employee from checking the stock price was just Elon’s antique. Turns out not everyone can resist. Moreover:
When you go public your organization is probably working at half productivity. Going public slows you down, you should make sure you get most of your innovation done first. You should make sure, as Meg Whitman once said, that monkeys can run the train, then it doesn’t matter that your productivity is down.
