What’s it like to be the CEO of a company celebrating its successful IPO?
Redfin’s Glenn Kelman would tell you it feels exactly the same, and that his desire to stay focused on improving a business model that remains flawed hasn’t changed a bit.
“I still worry that we’re going to show up late for a tour, or screw up an offer, or that our traffic’s going to slow down,” Kelman said onstage at Inman Connect.
He’s adamant that the IPO won’t change Redfin’s culture, and that sacrificing the company’s roots would be a mistake.
“I think we’re worried that they try to put you in this little box, and they want you to get all corporate,” Kelman said. “And what got you here in the first place is that you had a little soul, you had a little poetry, you had a little energy — and we don’t want to lose that. Because the culture of the company depends on that, and we’re asking people to work so hard.”
