Such an awesome problem to have, but still a problem. Good on you for recognizing too that it would be too much to try and do both yourself. Sometimes our ego

Such an awesome problem to have, but still a problem. Good on you for recognizing too that it would be too much to try and do both yourself. Sometimes our egos get in the way of the best decisions and you seem to have solved that problem already. I hired a CEO a while back to run a company that I acquired through some less then conventional means, but wound up with 100% ownership in. I was and still am a CTO at another company that is quite separate but I always am on the lookout for deals which is how this deal fell into my lap. Anyway, I didn't have any contacts in the main industry the company operated in, but obviously could understand the model and technology (or I would've skip it). So I reached out to suppliers and businesses that were in the same vertical but not competitors and started asking lots of questions. Bought quite a few lunches/dinners/drinks to learn all that I could and to ask them point blank if they knew of anyone that might be a fit for what I needed. This took me a little while, but I generally refuse to use recruiters, so to me it was the best way to come up with someone I felt had the right skill mix and that I could cut a deal with that involved more than just a salary. Once I heard a few names pretty consistently then I approached them and met with them all, eventually cutting a deal with one to lead the company while I kept my day job. My 2 cents. This has worked out great for me, but partially because I am good at leaving him to do his job and I don't interfere or get in his way. He gives me regular reports, and calls me for large decisions or things he feels I need to be in the loop on, since it is still my money and company in the end. However, I'd say 85-90% of the time I always go with his recommendation, after all I hired him as the expert. It hasn't always been the right call of course, but neither have my decisions in my career either, so who cares, fix it and move on. I only bring this up because if you choose this route over selling you have to manage things forward and not interfere with the business, you essentially are a board chairman. That doesn't mean you don't have input etc, just that you have to be careful how you approach it so you don't destroy the employee trust in their leadership. Just like founders who constantly bounce in and out of areas thinking they are making things better instead of using the leadership they hire to get what they need done, it destroys company's long term and limits the growth of the company.