[V99]

It may be cynical but it's also totally true.. I've personally gone through this whole cycle two separate times from smallish company -> private sale -> IPO shortly after. (~30th engineer in one and 11yrs, then day-one for the other and 7yrs).

Say you joined a company relatively early. If you're still around years later by an IPO, you probably liked that early environment where you had low-to-no management overhead, large direct impact, and everybody was personally invested in getting shit done. For most employees that environment was already slipping away pre-IPO, but you know you're close to the finish line and can't get off now. What remains is quickly going to be gone post-IPO.

The early employees get major cash-outs; some probably don't need to work at all anymore, so those that treat their job as a means-to-an-end and not their identity leave immediately. Maybe there's big incentives to stay for a few years, paid out annually, hung over your head so you don't quit immediately. But after a year of more managers and TPS reports and public company corporate governance you get your payout... That annual bonus structure practically forces you to decide if you want to leave now, or signup for a whole 'nother year of this, so a wave of people leave. After a 2nd year of this they're mostly gone to greener pastures.

Less-early employees still get significant cash-outs in a large event like this. Maybe they use it to take some time off, it's been a long few years. Once you're out for a while, why not look at what else is out there on the market. Some of them find out they liked this new big-company stuff and want more of it, so they'll probably stay for years. Others are like the early employees and want the good-old days back, they have to go find it somewhere else.

[nemo44x]

The golden handcuffs can be pure torture. Your soul is being ripped out daily as the new leaders destroy anything that was great about the place. You go to an event and you can't even recognize the place anymore; interlopers everywhere and you're the outsider. You smile and cheerfully agree with them about "how amazing the culture is here" even though they've ruined it already.

But you're 2 months away from an early RSU grant from vesting you a few hundred thousands dollars on top of the ISO's you haven't cashed out yet. But eventually the right opportunity comes your way and everyone is shocked you're leaving like you were when a legendary person left 6 months earlier. You take a pay cut and probably worse benefits and more ISO's than you could imagine to join that series a or b startup you connected with as soulmates and it's going to be OK.

[ghaff]

I’m not sure we’re disagreeing. Yes larger public companies are different from startups both because of the larger part and the public part. I haven’t gone through an IPO but I have gone through significant growth as a public companies. A lot of things change. Not necessarily for the worse. But it’s different.

[V99]

That is totally true and those may be great for the growth of the company. But as the parent was saying they are generally worse for the day-to-day job of the old-guard employees, and that's why most of them leave soon after.