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“Why are you worried about selling your company?” I asked Fred. “You’re just getting started, and you’re worried about selling (your company)? That doesn’t feel good to me.”
I had just met Fred, and I was trying to decide whether I was going to work with him. And, an entrepreneur who volunteers they are focused on selling their company in a couple of years is not an entrepreneur I’m interested in working with.
Sign number one: You’re not thinking big if you’re thinking of a sale from the get go.
You know the old saying that building a startup is a marathon, not a sprint. Well, you’re a sprinter, and you’re going to burn out well before the marathon is over.
So, best of luck to you, but I’m not interested in working with you.
More importantly than that, you likely don’t have the stomach for the challenges you have ahead.
The thought process of a quick sale is the wrong mindset. It’s likely to take you seven to ten years before you have a successful liquidation event. There are going to be lots of moments where everything hangs in the balance.
If you can’t learn how to take a punch, then you don’t stand a chance as a startup CEO. And believe me, you’re going…
