Please don't be upset by an other Google IPO post, this is really my second time posting on the IPO topic, and even in this post I will be talking more about Google the people then Google the company.
An article at Wired named Quirky Google Culture Endangered? discusses the thought process Google's founders, Page and Brin, are going through.
On one hand, the founders can greatly benefit financially by taking the company public. They "are believed to own roughly one-third of Google, which is expected to be worth between $15 billion and $25 billion after its stock market debut." Not only will they benefit personally, the company and the employees will be better off financially.
However, on the other hand, Google might not be able to maintain the "freewheeling approach" after the "hard-nosed investors" are keeping their eyes on the company. They might have to say goodbye to "colorful office toys, roller-hockey games, free meals prepared by the Grateful Dead's former chef and a business mandate requiring workers to devote one day per week to their own pet projects."
