I
n 2009, during the tumult of the economic downturn, SAS CEO Jim Goodnight decided that, despite the risks, he would not downsize his company.
Goodnight announced that there would be no layoffs at any of SAS’s roughly 400 worldwide offices. The company implemented hiring freezes and cut costs, but Goodnight refused to follow the path of SAS’s competitors. That year, the company reported 2.2 percent revenue growth and increased profits. In January 2012, SAS reported that growth had increased to 12 percent and revenue was a record $2.73 billion.
In Silicon Valley, Goodnight would be considered an outcast. His company would be called a “lifestyle business” and he would be ridiculed for not having taken it public. That’s because Silicon Valley, like Washington, D.C., believes that the IPO is Nirvana for tech companies.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Silicon Valley needs to rethink its fascination with IPOs | VentureBeat
