Comment by azernik
8 years ago
> Can't GitHub just sell stock/shares to the GitHub community to secure their own independent future?
No. Unless they want to go for an IPO, they are only allowed to sell to accredited investors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accredited_investor).
> greed for a "payout" (VCs wanting to exit the "bubble")
That's their job. They put hundreds of millions of dollars into GitHub 3 (Series B) or 6 (Series A) years ago, and their sustainable business relies on selling those investments for a profit.
@asernik I was referring to the idea of them doing a "Direct Public Listing" ("DPO") as opposed to an IPO (similar to what Spotify recently did...) http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/spotify-ipo/ https://www.investopedia.com/news/what-difference-between-ip...
> "a DPO is attractive to small companies and companies with an established and loyal client base. A DPO is also known as direct placement."
GitHub has the "established and loyal client base" with many millions in recurring revenue.
GitHub's principal VCs, Sequoia and A16z can both afford to wait for a return. everyone could sell in the "DPO" so VCs could liquidate if they needed cash ... https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/github
> relies on selling those investments for a profit.
There are more ways to make money than selling out