What happens when a publicly traded company transitions to become privately owned? During the midday Fireside Chat at the Boston Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, two CFOs share firsthand insights on the realities of life as a public company, the strategic considerations behind their respective sales to private equity firms, and what the transition process entailed.
Cassandra Hudson, CFO of StackAdapt and former CFO of EngageSmart, along with John Wagner, former CFO of Brightcove, in a conversation moderated by Bank of America Managing Director Phil Ianniello, discuss what changed post-transaction and how the shift has impacted operations and financial strategy, and offer key lessons from navigating this major transformation.
Here's an excerpt:
“Life as a public company, I always say, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I must be some type of glutton for punishment, but I love public companies, but it's really hard. Everyone gets super excited about the IPO and it's an event, it's one day, and then you have to live and die by every quarter. And people are going to try and influence you in some way, whether it's public company investors that you're talking to all the time, your board, the management team, to commit to more than you want to, or you should. And so, that's the real tough part, in my mind, is just sticking to what you feel really comfortable with and what you believe in for the company, and telling that same story and not letting anyone influence you.” - Cassandra Hudson
