Sonos, the company that makes those cool, Internet-connected stereo systems, is still growing like a weed: Close to 100% sales growth last year, and around the same rate this year, co-founder Tom Cullen tells us.
So now that IPOs are cool again, with the likes of LinkedIn and Pandora filing to go public, is Sonos next in line?
Probably not.
Cullen (obviously) doesn't rule it out forever, but he says there are better liquidity options out there in the private markets for companies like Sonos that are focused much more on growth and less on profitability.
"What's more important?" he asks rhetorically, "happy customers, or happy Wall Street?"
If Sonos were public, for instance, Wall Street might not like that it's investing big in China. But it doesn't have to worry about that now.
And it's not like Sonos is in a situation like Facebook, where hundreds of early employees are trying to cash out.
Sonos had about 220 employees at the beginning of this year, on its way to 300, and the company has about 100 jobs open, Cullen says. But four years ago -- the standard vesting period for stock options -- it only had about 35-40 staffers.
Earlier: Sonos Gets A Big Upgrade With Apple AirPlay Support
For the latest tech news, visit SAI: Silicon Alley Insider. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Join the conversation about this story »
See Also:
- Meet RenRen, The "Facebook Of China" That's Going Public At $4 Billion
- Facebook Starts Cramming Questions Down Users' Throats To Beat Back Quora
- SAY Media, The New Company That Used To Be VideoEgg And Six Apart, Is About To Announce Its First Acquisition
No comments:
Post a Comment