Top 10 Reasons Why It’s So Much Better to be a Private Biotech Company

10. Grumpy public market investors actually make VCs almost seem cheerful.
 
9. Liquidity of your vested shares is now just about equal whether you’re public or private.
 
8. Admit it – that flat price you got on your last round is looking like your best-performing investment of the year.
 
7. There’s at least a chance that your investors will care about your pipeline programs if your lead product happens to hit a snag in the clinic.
 
6. No break-out sessions required when you present at I-bank conferences.
 
5. Fantasy M&A take-out valuations aren’t weighed down by that darned ticker price.
 
4. “SOX compliance” simply means rooting for your favorite baseball team from Chicago.
 
3. Your stock price won’t tank the day you announce good news.
 
2. No chance of getting mentioned as a “buy” on Cramer.
 
1. VCs may be tough on price, but at least we won’t offer you a pre-money value that’s lower than the amount of cash you already have on hand.

Arthur Klausner has been a partner with Pappas Ventures since 2005, before which he was with Domain Associates for 14 years. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Arthur spent six years at Bio/Technology magazine (now Nature Biotechnology), where as Senior Editor he researched and prepared over 200 articles concerning scientific and business aspects of applied biology.