The founder of online electricals retailer AO.com  has said he would not hesitate in having another flotation â but admitted he would get a bigger âflak jacketâ to deal with the brickbats.
John Roberts found himself at the centre of constant media attention following the 2014 flotation, which valued the business at ÂŁ1.2bn with an initial share price of ÂŁ2.85.
The share price has dropped to ÂŁ1.20p and the entrepreneur sparked a flurry of stories when he reportedly said he wouldnât leave his multi-million pound fortune to his five children.
But Roberts, who spoke at a recent digital summit called by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, said the IPO remained the absolute right decision and had paid for the companyâs expansion into Europe.
The businessman, who famously founded the Bolton-based retailer after a ÂŁ1 bet in a pub with a mate, said too often the UKâs media dwelt on the negatives and urged the country to follow the example from the West Coast of America.
âWhen youâre a young start-up itâs very difficult to attract that talent because they donât want to join a small business when theyâve got lots of opportunities elsewhere,â he said.
âThe other challenge from a capital perspective is getting people to back a crazy dream and think big. As a nation we donât do that. If you go to the West Coast of the US they are really happy to place lots and lots of bets. Theyâre happy to invest in the long term in early stage ideas.
âFrom a press coverage perspective we talk about âitâs not making any money yet. Theyâve been at it for three yearsâ. Whereas in the US theyâll celebrate the progress theyâve made. They have a lot more blind faith than we do.
âGetting the best people and the capital and bringing them together; itâs no accident that all sort of happened on the West Coast and itâs a magnet for talent and a magnet for the capital.â
Roberts said the reaction to the 2014 flotation was a âperfect example of British pressâ.
âWe would absolutely do it again,â he insisted. âIt gave us the money to go and expand our business into new categories, to new territories, to launch our business into Germany and the Netherlands. We could not have done that if weâd not raised the capital.
âWe donât set the price of the business on the market. Very experienced investors do that. It was 11 times over subscribed. Our original investors might think they got a raw deal on that because we probably could have got them more.
âThen the focus becomes âhow much you made out of itâ and not âwhat can it do and what it can help you buildâ. Would we do it again? Yes, but I would have probably got a slightly bigger flak jacket.
âThere are very few examples of a UK business exporting efficiency to Germany. We are one of them. We can deliver a washing machine to any postcode in Germany and install it faster than Deutsche Post can deliver you a letter and theyâve been at it a while.
“Those things donât just happen overnight and they donât happen for free.â