All of this makes me ask the question of, "How does a company go public without losing themselves? Is that even possible?"

This type of going public and chasing shareholder, share selling, cash infusion (sorry for the word salad, I couldn't think of a better way to put it) - which is often needed for growth past a certain point - how does a company not compromise their vision and bow to the shareholders once they go public, when their directive then becomes "Maximize stock value for the shareholders"?

NOTE: I'm an engineer who graduated with an art degree, so this is way out of my wheel house. I've always built things, and have not been privy to the business side of the show. It's a bit foreign to me.