Public vs Private companies, the largest difference between the two is that private companies are not publicly traded, while public companies have shares traded on exchange funds available to the public. The main reason a company chooses to go public is to raise capital in order to continue to grow and expand the company. The pro behind the move to go public is the obvious increase in capital that allows the company to grow at a faster rate, potentially. However, the setback is that you now report to shareholders and have less control over the company. In the end the key difference and largest pro/con comes down to the direction the company is headed and the largest decision to make is whether the company values growth/capital over influence/control.