Lerman: Going Public Is Essential; VCs Discourage It Out of Self-Interest
Howard Lerman · 20VC: Behind The Scenes of a $Bn IPO Process, What Startups Can Learn From Teddy Roosevelt's "Five Minute Meetings" and What John Lennon Teaches Founders About Storytelling with Howard Lerman, Founder & CEO @ Yext · Sep 14, 2018 · at 27:47
Howard Lerman is the founder and CEO of Yext, an AI knowledge platform that completed its IPO in 2017. He responds to Harry Stebbings' question about the pros and cons of public vs. private companies.
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“First off, being public is way better than being private. For those people that say that you shouldn't be public, that's just a timing thing. And honestly, sometimes it's a VC that has a self-interest that wants to do a late stage round before you go public. Being public from a competitive perspective, you're bigger, you're badder, you have more cash. Cash is king. You can pay people more because you have RSUs. You attract better, more executive senior talent. Your brand is more famous. You get the ability to sell to big banks that want to look into your financial statements and know you're real before they install or use your software. Being public is the only way to be big. If you actually want to be a gigantic, huge Company that changes the world being private is just, it's like a step along the way. It's like asking a butterfly if it's better to be a butterfly or a caterpillar.”
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