Pretty simple solution...if you don't want to be beholden to external shareholders, don't go public.
If you're pre IPO, fund your company through debt, which is extremely cheap at the moment with interest rates at historical lows, or sane, sustainable equity rounds through investors who you know and trust and are in it for the long haul.
If you're post IPO, pull a Dell and exit the public markets so you can refocus on core business ideas and long-term growth rather than spending time bickering with Carl Icahn and fighting market sentiment.
Unfortunately "pulling a Dell" is only feasible years after a company's market cap has completely tanked, and still requires a ton of capital plus no perceived value to anyone outside the company (otherwise someone else would buy it long before the company could buy itself).
The circumstances were ideal for Dell, and even then look at how incredibly long and tortuous that process was. It almost didn't happen, it's almost miraculous that it finally did. Good for them though, I wish it were much easier for companies to go private again.
If you're pre IPO, fund your company through debt, which is extremely cheap at the moment with interest rates at historical lows, or sane, sustainable equity rounds through investors who you know and trust and are in it for the long haul.
If you're post IPO, pull a Dell and exit the public markets so you can refocus on core business ideas and long-term growth rather than spending time bickering with Carl Icahn and fighting market sentiment.