Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel: ‘We need to IPO’

Evan Spiegel, the notoriously secretive and prickly chief executive of Snapchat, has revealed one juicy tidbit: The Venice startup wants to go public, and plans are underway for an IPO.

The 24-year-old made the admission Tuesday evening during an onstage conversation with Re/code founders Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at their Code conference in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Mossberg: Does it matter to you, that there be an exit for your business?

Spiegel: That really matters. We need to IPO. We have a plan to do that. Obviously I can’t give you too much color there. But --

Swisher: How about a little? Plan to IPO by -- ?

Spiegel: Again, can’t give you color there.

Swisher: What does an IPO look like for you? Do you have revenues?

Spiegel: An IPO looks like a lot of things, but most importantly it looks like just another dot in the growth of our business. We don’t view that as, like, the end, really. That’s just the beginning.

Swisher: Do you ever imagine entertaining another acquisition offer? Or maybe you’re entertaining one right now; I have no idea.

Spiegel: No.

Swisher: You want to stay independent.

Spiegel: It’s more fun that way.

Re/code posted the highlights of its talk with Spiegel here.

Spiegel also said he believes there is a tech bubble that will eventually burst.

“People are making riskier investments, and I think there will be a correction,” he said. “We don’t know when, but it’s definitely something we factor into our plans when we think about the growth of our business.”

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