Public Company Quotes

I have never run a public company. I spent my entire life working for a private company.

As an entrepreneur and public company CEO, I’ve dealt with dozens of rollouts, and when unveiling a new product, the operating approach should be, ‘Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.’

VMWare, as you know, remains a public company, and Secure Works is also a public company. And it’s possible in the future that within the group, we could have other public companies.

Today we’re focused on small acquisitions to add technology where necessary. I think it’s fair to say we’re not out looking for a large one, but I think it’s also very fair to say that as a public company you can never say never.

It’s a special thing to be a public company.

Being a public company is really terrible for most companies. I’d say Facebook and Google have done a pretty good job of standing up to the incredible quarterly pressure to hit numbers, but most companies – and I’ve observed a lot now – don’t do a very good job of that.

I met with several public company CEOs to learn about their experiences of going public and listened to as many earnings calls as I possibly could.

As the head of the public company, you can’t say you can’t sell, because then you’re telling your shareholders that your own personal feelings about your assets are more important than their money. And they won’t invest with you if you do that.

If you’re going to run a public company, be absolutely certain of what the parameters are, what the clarity is, that you can explain it to yourselves and explain it externally.

I enjoy not being a public company.

Doing stuff that I don’t have to talk about because I’m not in a public company is fantastic.

I hated being a public company CEO.

Life at a public company ain’t for me. The board pays you what you’re worth, then you get reamed for your compensation.

I wanted a CFO with public company experience; I needed an HR department, new office space, and a board which could help me grow the business. Insight, the private equity firm I chose, helped me with all that.

I’m a CEO of a public company. You have to show decorum.

Clearly as you move to being a public company, probably even more than growth, there is a huge value based on predictability.

I don’t think I’d enjoy running a public company. We haven’t needed to go to the market to fund expansion.

I wish we could be private with Tesla. It actually makes us less efficient to be a public company.