For someone who holds stock in a privately held startup (thoughthrough exercised employee options) is it preferable to see the company aiming to go public so that stock can be sold on the open market? It seems like to me that there are lots of disadvantages to going public, such as disclosing a lot of your financial info to the public. Despite this, it seems like a lot of companies (especially startups) ultimately seek to go public.
What are the prominent advantages and disadvantages to going public?
