The Google IPO

By now, you know that Google has filed for their IPO.

I've seen the quotes that are critical of Google's plan here (eg). But I'm glad they're doing something out of the box. That's what I expect from Google.

There are many ways in which being a public company can be detrimental to service, not least of all, service to the user. Hitting quarterly earnings numbers often penalizes companies for future invesment. Being controlled by a board can severely limit the kind of quick decision making that needs to happen to compete well.

They beat the temptation to go for the money. Heck, they warned people off of buying their stock.

This may be a mistake on Google's part, but I sure hope not. I hope this sets a trend for other companies to dial down the dollars and ameliorate the bad effects that going public can have on a company.