I don't think IPO is the required hurdle to take before declaring a huge success and while there are some companies that have made it that far on their own it certainly isn't the norm.
One likely reason is that the IPO process itself costs a very large amount of money and is usually underwritten in part by large institutions.
Didn't cisco make it all the way to IPO without any outside investments ?
yep, I just found out about that... I recalled the story that they had a great problem finding funding, but it turned out that eventually sequoia came across.
Funny, I think a lot of VCs must have had a 'what if' moment there.
The joke in the industry is that it's the deals that you did that you'll regret and the deals that you didn't that you'll regret even more.
One likely reason is that the IPO process itself costs a very large amount of money and is usually underwritten in part by large institutions.
Didn't cisco make it all the way to IPO without any outside investments ?
Edit: cisco took 2.5 M in capital from sequoia