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Negotiate a small up front bonus, 2-4 weeks of paid vacation in the immediate future, at a minimum, and then take the deal. Use the r&r to recharge, and the acquisition to bolster your track record. Start something new once you vest.
Negotiate a small up front bonus, 2-4 weeks of paid vacation in the immediate future, at a minimum, and then take the deal. Use the r&r to recharge, and the acquisition to bolster your track record. Start something new once you vest.
Thanks for the comment. That seems like a good deal to me. Do you have any tips for the negotiation?
The terms of the deal allow us to mostly pay back our investors in full and would line us up with great jobs. It is not the exit we dreamed of but it gives us a nice story for the future and allows us to "wipe our hands clean". Given the amount of stress you are dealing with, this sounds like a good thing to me. You get to undo the damage this has done to your finances, I assume it also would let you get the surgery…
We have been amazingly blessed to get as far as we have so I think I'm hesitant because there is a chance that we can make this work despite my burn out and personal desire for stability. The reasons for accepting would be personal and although we would be able to return most of our investments, this is not what we set out to do. My main fear is limping out of this a few years from now. With the money we have raised,…
The other thing you can try to do is arrange a "third option." Can you get a break, even a short one, so you can get some rest and make this decision under less psychological pressure?
My dad was diagnosed with a clot in his leg when I was 17 and was told they wanted to amputate. He said "Can't we try something else first?" He was told they could, but odds were poor it would work. He wanted to try it anyway. He got to keep his leg.
If there is some way to say "no" to all the worst case scenarios -- to get some breathing room and try to make a saner decision -- that is the way to go.
I hope that makes some sense. It may not be very well explained.
Negotiate a small up front bonus, 2-4 weeks of paid vacation in the immediate future, at a minimum, and then take the deal. Use the r&r to recharge, and the acquisition to bolster your track record. Start something new once you vest.
Thanks for the comment. That seems like a good deal to me. Do you have any tips for the negotiation?
Also, having sold a company, I can't stress enough the value of having a good lawyer handle the legal bits. The last thing you wanna be dealing with when tire & grumpy is trying to find the loophole about how you could get screwed in a thick jumble of legalese.
Also, drink an emergency beer. You've earned it.
The harsh criticism against acquihires is mostly reserved for companies who raise too much, too fast and/or lavishly waste money and opportunities available to them. That doesn't sound like you at all.
Then when you come back, spend a week brainstorming with your co-founder on a new idea (pivot). Prepare a few slides, setup a meeting with your investors and ask for their support.
If they don't like it, sell.
Negotiate a small up front bonus, 2-4 weeks of paid vacation in the immediate future, at a minimum, and then take the deal. Use the r&r to recharge, and the acquisition to bolster your track record. Start something new once you vest.
Thanks for the comment. That seems like a good deal to me. Do you have any tips for the negotiation?
I say this as somebody who has recently returned to work after 2 months away due to surgery and needing rehabilitation post-surgery that was very intensive. I'm still feeling burned out, and I'm hoping to take a couple of weeks out in a month or two to just regroup and gather my energy back.
You need to figure out whether you can take some time out before making a decision, or if you need to make the decision now and then take the time off. If the acquiring company won't let you have enough time off (or more depending on the surgery), well, that's a problem, and you need to talk to your co-founder about whether you can do it whilst in the company.
The absolute top priority in all of this is your health: you can't pivot, sell or work for somebody else if you're not well. Deal with the burn out and surgery as an urgent priority, everything else is secondary.
The terms of the deal allow us to mostly pay back our investors in full and would line us up with great jobs. It is not the exit we dreamed of but it gives us a nice story for the future and allows us to "wipe our hands clean". Given the amount of stress you are dealing with, this sounds like a good thing to me. You get to undo the damage this has done to your finances, I assume it also would let you get the surgery…
We have been amazingly blessed to get as far as we have so I think I'm hesitant because there is a chance that we can make this work despite my burn out and personal desire for stability. The reasons for accepting would be personal and although we would be able to return most of our investments, this is not what we set out to do. My main fear is limping out of this a few years from now. With the money we have raised,…
Now imagine you're an 3rd party investor. You have $200k "return", health benefits, vacation, savings in one year on the one hand and a startup with your size stake with your current idea on the other. Which one would u pick?
As a selfish investor which would u pick?
I don't know the terms of your deal but you should be able to sit down and make an apples to apple comparison.