The main criticism of delaying IPOs is that by the time they hit the public market, all the growth is gone. Markets learned this after Lyft and Uber, and Wework got punished for it. While there can be more corporate shenanigans in a private company, I also buy the justification for staying private that private companies can focus on longer-term thinking without quarter-to-quarter market expectations.
IMO People need to understand what that really is (usually not much) rather than blame the company.
When should they have IPOed?
I don't necessarily blame the management either. I do hope this reminds employees of private companies that their equity is only on paper until they are able to sell, and they should pressure management to give them the option.
To be fair, even the cash compensation at Airbnb was supposedly pretty high. But I’m not sure whether that’s much consolation now, after they’ve been dangling a golden carrot in front of employees for years.
Education about what the value of something you can't sell seems a better route.
And granted, at Airbnb, maybe they all knew.