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Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

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Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#51

Post by saiya-jin »

loxs wrote: post #36
sigi45 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always interesting to see what other people think is 'cool'. I love my wife too much to swing. Couldn't and don't want to imagine someone else having sex with my wife.

That's because you (and me too) equate sex with intimacy (in the emotional sense). This is not true for all people and I don't judge.

You're right, but most people can't do the distinction properly on emotional level, and unless they actually go through it, have no clue how they react. Once you're sure it works OK 100% of the cases, on both ends, then its probably healthy for relationship.

Anecdote - one of my ex was talked into a threesome with another girl by her ex, thinking how refreshing it would be (and she is not a typical nice girl with a good heart to start with). She couldn't handle it at all, and it contributed to their breakup quite effectively.

Nothing for me, I prefer quality rather than quantity (maybe not the best comparison, but I lack better in this case).

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#52

Post by throwaway877544 »

ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #43
throwaway877544 wrote: post #28

The startup nearly killed me but I cashed out ~$3M after taxes. It’s all invested in a portfolio of index funds. I moved to a ski town in Colorado and ski 3x per week and volunteer teach fitness classes 4x per week. My wife and I have plenty of time and money so we “live sexy” - basically we’re swingers. We try to hook up with others for a threesome our foursome once a month or so. It is insanely fun but only works b…

Do you find being physically fit, skiing, having sex and napping fulfilling enough? I think I'm too obsessed with creating, be it writing novels, video games or new products to be happy living like you do but I also think that can hold me back - I enjoy creating too much whereas the focus should perhaps be to make money instead so you can get the life/freedom you want.

I’m still very creative but I consciously prioritize my happiness which I’ve found largely correlates with low stress, physical health, and sleep.

I’ll do a few productive benders a year where I shut myself in for a week or two at a time, but invariably I start feeling crappy and need to get back on a healthy schedule.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#53

Post by throwaway2178 »

throwaway877544 wrote: post #50
awinder wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The secret is that having money is the fastest way to make more money and it’s a much greater multiplier than effort / intelligence / even luck.

Yeah it helps. I got a $500k line of credit with something like a 2% interest rate last year. Makes it easy to pounce on opportunities.

Sure, but I'd still love to know what kind of opportunities you can pounce on with $500k generating such a nice income.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#54

Post by kp02 »

Sold last year (2 founders) to a very focused private equity fund from a weak position - We were bootstrapped and profitable but large competitors entered the space and we were slowly losing the battle.

From financial perspective it was personally a good deal. Now have a 3-year non-compete for a specific field. The new owner is doing well with a larger team, resources and synergies between their other investments.

One aspect that's not very often covered is the psychological side which was very hard for me. Soon after closing and moving forward, I absolutely felt lost, more than ever before - Kind of lost my purpose? No customers to care about, weaker connection with earlier team mates and professional friends from the industry, a lot of free time and no hecticness I used to have.

Started working on something new, validated and built the 1st version of the product, got very light traction but didn't find a profitable model for it. Had investment offers on table to get funded but declined as we were not confident about the business case.

Now investing slowly, doing the things I like more intensively (skiing & climbing) and trying to understand what would the next professional/entrepreneurial step be and what I want in life.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#55

Post by throwaway877544 »

sigi45 wrote: post #35
throwaway877544 wrote: post #28

The startup nearly killed me but I cashed out ~$3M after taxes. It’s all invested in a portfolio of index funds. I moved to a ski town in Colorado and ski 3x per week and volunteer teach fitness classes 4x per week. My wife and I have plenty of time and money so we “live sexy” - basically we’re swingers. We try to hook up with others for a threesome our foursome once a month or so. It is insanely fun but only works b…

Always interesting to see what other people think is 'cool'. I love my wife too much to swing. Couldn't and don't want to imagine someone else having sex with my wife.

We mostly do FFM threesomes and soft swap (oral only) in larger group situations. She’s just not that interested in other guys, moreso the ladies, which works for me.

I like to see her happy. She likes to see me happy. The dynamic obviously isn’t for everyone but it works for us.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#56

Post by dagw »

dsign wrote: post #18
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally what I typically see is a big chunk of change over 4-5 years and then smaller chunks every year to extend the handcuffs. YMMV

It's quite a long time ... I guess many entrepreneurs just want to move on and hate being on the "you are behold to us" part of the acquisition...

I can kind of understand both sides. Company I used to work for bought up a small company to expand their product portfolio. I don't know the details, but the acquired company was never really happy with their new life and 2-3 years later almost everybody from that acquisition had left (and taken some of their new colleagues with them) and there was no one left in the company that could really continue the work they'd been doing. Basically 3-4 years later it was as if the acquisition had never taken place

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#57

Post by ajeet_dhaliwal »

throwaway877544 wrote: post #52
ajeet_dhaliwal wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you find being physically fit, skiing, having sex and napping fulfilling enough? I think I'm too obsessed with creating, be it writing novels, video games or new products to be happy living like you do but I also think that can hold me back - I enjoy creating too much whereas the focus should perhaps be to make money instead so you can get the life/freedom you want.

I’m still very creative but I consciously prioritize my happiness which I’ve found largely correlates with low stress, physical health, and sleep. I’ll do a few productive benders a year where I shut myself in for a week or two at a time, but invariably I start feeling crappy and need to get back on a healthy schedule.

I think in the long run my life would be better if I struck a better balance between your approach and my own and it's something I've been thinking of doing, in particular with getting healthier.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#58

Post by Joe8Bit »

123ol12313 wrote: post #5
Joe8Bit wrote: post #4

Exited with two co-founders when our runway ran out. Sold our IP and assets for a modest amount to our main competitor. I realised that (as CTO) the main area I couldn't contribute to was 'the business' of running a successful company. So I decided to remedy that, I joined McKinsey and left last year as an Associate Partner. I'm now the VP Engineering at a fast growing tech company (250+ people) and the impact I can…

Can you explain a little about how your experience at McKinsey has allowed you to have a greater impact? Why did you go back to VP Engineering after having consulting experience? At first though, I would think your technology experience would give you leverage on the business side rather than the other way around.

Among many other things the experience gave me:

* Empathy with the folks who's thinking was alien to me previously. I learned through doing their job. I could communicate with them and work in their context in a way that allows me much more leverage and ability to have impact with engineering.

* I learned the semantics and pragmatics of running a large organisation which gave me the lexicon and confidence to be taken seriously doing it (therefore more leverage) and taught me lots of small but important tactical lessons (e.g. how to manage difficult shareholders)

* How to communicate complex technical subjects to people who either don't/can't/won't understand them.

* A HUGE network

I went back because I missed it. I wanted to do consulting as a way of getting better at being an engineering leader, not leaving it forever. I was offered a few things at VC/PE firms, or in typical 'business' roles, but none of them really appealed. Not my passion.

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#59

Post by Joe8Bit »

konradb wrote: post #27
123ol12313 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain a little about how your experience at McKinsey has allowed you to have a greater impact? Why did you go back to VP Engineering after having consulting experience? At first though, I would think your technology experience would give you leverage on the business side rather than the other way around.

I'd be very interested in this too, also at what age you did this.

Joined age 30/31

Re: Ask HN: Founders who sold their company, what do you do?

#60

Post by qaq »

danesparza wrote: post #47
throwaway877544 wrote: post #28

The startup nearly killed me but I cashed out ~$3M after taxes. It’s all invested in a portfolio of index funds. I moved to a ski town in Colorado and ski 3x per week and volunteer teach fitness classes 4x per week. My wife and I have plenty of time and money so we “live sexy” - basically we’re swingers. We try to hook up with others for a threesome our foursome once a month or so. It is insanely fun but only works b…

How interesting. I'm happy for you that your life has turned out the way you wanted. I do wonder what your 60-70 year old self will say about you now.

Anecdotal experience from talking to old people or those with serious illness or those who had a near death experience. I never once heard I wish I worked more, the recurring theme is more in line with I wish I spent more time with loved ones and had more fun.
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