[crazygringo]

They're not mutually exclusive.

But founders and employees at some point want to leave and do other things. They want to take their stake in the company and sell it to buy a house or retire or pay for their kids' college or whatever.

That requires an exit, either as an acquisition or an IPO.

(In theory, dividends or profit distributions are an alternative, but they're much harder to do anything with because they're mostly in the future and not guaranteed. You can't pay for your kids' college with future profit-sharing that may or may not materialize. And, dividends or profit distributions are the opposite of growth, because you're no longer re-investing in the company.)