A company’s success is not dependent on whether or not it is publiclt traded. In fact the decision to go public is usually made based on how the owner(s) is/are seeking to profit. Many business owners make their fortune by selling some part of their company. Before a company is sold or goes public, it is evaluated as a multiple of its 10 year discounted cash flow. When a private company is sold, the sale price is directly based on this evaluation. When a company goes public this evaluation is still done to set the value of the initial public offering(IPO) of the stock, however, the majority owners can then sell shares any time thereafter at the stock’s market value, which is largely based on a company’s publicaly percieved value.

Generally speaking, taking on investors and going public is often a faster track to income. While private companies tend to be more successful in the long term. Going public,however, also mandates that the company be a corporation, which requires a board of directors. This is a slippery slope as the board decreases autonomy and can lead to eventually being ousted from your own company. This can occur because the board and shareholders have a say in who runs the company and how things are run.