4 ms·

I never understood selling of the company unless you've been working in it for 20 years. Like isn't the idea to be your own boss? And why sell it, if you don't

I never understood selling of the company unless you've been working in it for 20 years. Like isn't the idea to be your own boss? And why sell it, if you don't have the next idea for the next business up and running? I don't know any tech startup entrepreneurs, but I do have relatives who started their own businesses but always had backup plans and diversity.

satvikpendem 3y ago
The article covers this, one can just get tired of it all and want to divest. It's also better to be diverse in your investments rather than putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping it doesn't fail after 20 years, which can definitely happen. Sell, live off the money you made from selling, and take a break until you get your next few ideas.
gnicholas 3y ago
It all depends on the multiple. If someone is giving you 3 years of profit up-front, that's probably not worth it. If they're giving you 10 years of profit, that could make sense. You avoid having to work for that period of time, and you avoid the risk that something could go wrong (with the company, the economy, the sector) during that time. It also allows you to diversify your assets.
- lelanthran 3y ago
  > If someone is giving you 3 years of profit up-front, that's probably not worth it. TBH, 3 years of profit upfront is probably worth it if you have no good plans to expand that profit.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    Really? IMO 3x profit is a terrible multiplier. Depending on the business, 3x revenue could be worth it, but that's a completely different calculation. Of course, it also depends on how much work you're doing to sustain that profit. If you're working full-time to make this happen, 3x profit is a more attractive proposition than if you're just cashing the checks.
    - lelanthran 3y ago
      Well, I was kinda assuming that it's a f/time job making the business run. If it isn't a f/time job then, you're correct, the calculus is quite different.
yieldcrv 3y ago
and I never understood people that want a forever company. Never get married to a position. The shares I purchase in my brokerage account and the shares I make up on a sheet of paper are treated the same to me. Why make your identity around running a company. Sell the company and live life. My quickest creation and flip was 3 months and went to party for the next 12. Why not do that
- s1artibartfast 3y ago
  Maybe it's one of those things that is easy to explain but hard to understand if you don't have experiential context. Some people find activities and experiences fulfilling in a non fungible way. That makes them feel alive, more themselves, and more fulfilled than without them. Loving ones job is a powerful source of happiness that's hard to replace, once you've had a taste of it. I can make you smile when you get up in the morning excited to start the day, and then you have the pleasure of doing it as long as you can. It can be a way to live life, not an alternative to it
  - csdvrx 3y ago
    > Maybe it's one of those things that is easy to explain but hard to understand if you don't have experiential context. Maybe use the word "Ikigai"? It seems to carries the concept very well across cultures. It's doing what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai A friend told me a life without Ikigai is a life spent waiting for death. It's an extreme position, because it can just be more opportunities for change/growth/discovery (as someone else posted, why tie in identity?). Also many people seem to lack Ikigai but still be happy. Yet the concept resonated with me. > It can be a way to live life, not an alternative to it You seem to have explored what life is without Ikigai. Could you share your thoughts?
    - yieldcrv 3y ago
      > because it can just be more opportunities for change/growth/discovery That was basically going to be my comment, I'm fulfilled by beating the game. Resource acquisition is a Massive Multiplayer game. I'm fulfilled by the industries I enter to make revenue or sell a company, I'm never doing something grueling and dead end, I feel good about successfully avoiding being in that kind of situation. I'm fulfilled by enjoying the spoils of success. I'm fulfilled by extending the length of time I can enjoy them. I'm fulfilled by parlaying that into passive income or a nice portfolio, or investing in other high growth assets at my risk or peril. But making a forever company? Its never appealed to me, and when I look at other's it doesn't make sense to me. There's always something unobjective about it, burdening their family with a reputation to always defend. I dated a woman that grew up on a decently industrial farm, she was interested in Fortune 500 corporate work and excelled at that but having to prove she wasn't an unsophisticated farmer was a common point for her. I asked the father why farming, he said "feeding the people is so fulfilling", it wasn't until I found the grandfather that I got an objective answer. The grandfather was the one with the portfolio of companies and he set one child into the farming one, and another child into the entertainment ones - golf courses specifically. The grandfather was the person I could relate to. Just an example of things I see a lot. Don't get married to a position, don't burden your family with your obsessions. I am my own lifestyle company.
vidarh 3y ago
Depends on the business. I've co-founded businesses we knew going in was just for the hope of an exit as big as possible as fast as possible, and that we knew we'd walk away from whether we failed or succeeded, and I've founded businesses I'd have liked to have kept if they got to a level I was happy with but sold or left because it became clear the potential wasn't there, or circumstances changed. It's not at all a given that your goal was/is to be your own boss. Or at least not necessarily in any given company.

satvikpendem 3y ago

The article covers this, one can just get tired of it all and want to divest. It's also better to be diverse in your investments rather than putting all your eggs in one basket and hoping it doesn't fail after 20 years, which can definitely happen. Sell, live off the money you made from selling, and take a break until you get your next few ideas.

gnicholas 3y ago

It all depends on the multiple. If someone is giving you 3 years of profit up-front, that's probably not worth it. If they're giving you 10 years of profit, that could make sense. You avoid having to work for that period of time, and you avoid the risk that something could go wrong (with the company, the economy, the sector) during that time. It also allows you to diversify your assets.

lelanthran 3y ago
> If someone is giving you 3 years of profit up-front, that's probably not worth it. TBH, 3 years of profit upfront is probably worth it if you have no good plans to expand that profit.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  Really? IMO 3x profit is a terrible multiplier. Depending on the business, 3x revenue could be worth it, but that's a completely different calculation. Of course, it also depends on how much work you're doing to sustain that profit. If you're working full-time to make this happen, 3x profit is a more attractive proposition than if you're just cashing the checks.
  - lelanthran 3y ago
    Well, I was kinda assuming that it's a f/time job making the business run. If it isn't a f/time job then, you're correct, the calculus is quite different.

yieldcrv 3y ago

and I never understood people that want a forever company. Never get married to a position. The shares I purchase in my brokerage account and the shares I make up on a sheet of paper are treated the same to me. Why make your identity around running a company. Sell the company and live life. My quickest creation and flip was 3 months and went to party for the next 12. Why not do that

s1artibartfast 3y ago
Maybe it's one of those things that is easy to explain but hard to understand if you don't have experiential context. Some people find activities and experiences fulfilling in a non fungible way. That makes them feel alive, more themselves, and more fulfilled than without them. Loving ones job is a powerful source of happiness that's hard to replace, once you've had a taste of it. I can make you smile when you get up in the morning excited to start the day, and then you have the pleasure of doing it as long as you can. It can be a way to live life, not an alternative to it
- csdvrx 3y ago
  > Maybe it's one of those things that is easy to explain but hard to understand if you don't have experiential context. Maybe use the word "Ikigai"? It seems to carries the concept very well across cultures. It's doing what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can get paid for! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai A friend told me a life without Ikigai is a life spent waiting for death. It's an extreme position, because it can just be more opportunities for change/growth/discovery (as someone else posted, why tie in identity?). Also many people seem to lack Ikigai but still be happy. Yet the concept resonated with me. > It can be a way to live life, not an alternative to it You seem to have explored what life is without Ikigai. Could you share your thoughts?
  - yieldcrv 3y ago
    > because it can just be more opportunities for change/growth/discovery That was basically going to be my comment, I'm fulfilled by beating the game. Resource acquisition is a Massive Multiplayer game. I'm fulfilled by the industries I enter to make revenue or sell a company, I'm never doing something grueling and dead end, I feel good about successfully avoiding being in that kind of situation. I'm fulfilled by enjoying the spoils of success. I'm fulfilled by extending the length of time I can enjoy them. I'm fulfilled by parlaying that into passive income or a nice portfolio, or investing in other high growth assets at my risk or peril. But making a forever company? Its never appealed to me, and when I look at other's it doesn't make sense to me. There's always something unobjective about it, burdening their family with a reputation to always defend. I dated a woman that grew up on a decently industrial farm, she was interested in Fortune 500 corporate work and excelled at that but having to prove she wasn't an unsophisticated farmer was a common point for her. I asked the father why farming, he said "feeding the people is so fulfilling", it wasn't until I found the grandfather that I got an objective answer. The grandfather was the one with the portfolio of companies and he set one child into the farming one, and another child into the entertainment ones - golf courses specifically. The grandfather was the person I could relate to. Just an example of things I see a lot. Don't get married to a position, don't burden your family with your obsessions. I am my own lifestyle company.

vidarh 3y ago

Depends on the business. I've co-founded businesses we knew going in was just for the hope of an exit as big as possible as fast as possible, and that we knew we'd walk away from whether we failed or succeeded, and I've founded businesses I'd have liked to have kept if they got to a level I was happy with but sold or left because it became clear the potential wasn't there, or circumstances changed. It's not at all a given that your goal was/is to be your own boss. Or at least not necessarily in any given company.