Back to Ownership

One of the key considerations as I reflected on How we’re approaching liquidity as a long term company, was whether to eventually distribute a portion of our profits as a dividend. This is something I strongly considered for a number of years, however I have decided that generally we can do more to build growth and long term value of Buffer shares by reinvesting into our growth rather than paying out a dividend.

However, since we're striving to build a long-term business with no specific plan for an exit, then if the only way to gain value from shares is to sell them, we are not incentivizing shareholders to hold stock for the long term. Getting a dividend, even if rather small, could significantly change the sentiment around Buffer stock, and could lead some folks to hold stock and see how much that dividend could grow to over time.

Taking this a step further, there may be an opportunity to create a very rare opportunity for investors to buy into a tech company that issues an annual dividend. This may be the best direction to strongly consider in achieving sustainable ongoing liquidity opportunities.

There is still a question mark around the size of a dividend that would be attractive to investors, and whether we’d want to spend that on a pure cash distribution for investors where we technically don’t get something back in return (vs buying back shares, or reinvesting for our growth). However, I am now strongly considering a small dividend once we are profitable again. Even for team members, alumni, and our earliest seed investors, this could be something that is quite exciting and creates more support towards our long-term goals as a company.