Managing the weight of expectations during a company sale

I sold my company in 2023.

I've written a separate blog on the emotional rollercoaster of going through the process of selling the company.

I've done a lot of reflection since. I look back on that time now with fondness, almost nostalgia. And a strong sense of gratitude that we managed to make it happen. And I talked about that on the Moneywise podcast.

The hardest part, for me, was carrying the weight of expectation from my co-Founder, team, Board, investors and family.

I'd seen them make sacrifices and take risks along the journey of starting, funding and growing the company.

That can come in many forms. For me that was: my wife pausing her career for mine, spending time away from the family when we had very young kids, not taking them on holidays in the early days, our investors funding an emergency top-up round when the company was in a bad place, team members taking a career risk to join you...

They would never be outwardly angry or blame you if the deal didn't happen. But you owe it to them. And this is your chance to finally pay them back.

You want it happen so badly, sometimes more for them than for you. You're terrified that the deal will die, and that it will be your fault.

I got plenty of support from my wife and family, my co-Founder and our investors. But they don't understand how it feels to have that responsibility on your shoulders. Nobody else can fully understand how it feels to be the hot seat running the deal.

That's not meant to be pity seeking... it's obviously an amazing situation to be in, and I also felt a lot of gratitude during the sale process and afterwards.

But I want to discuss this because I expect you will feel some of the same emotions when you try to sell your company.

So what can you do about it?

There's obviously a bunch of important health and lifestyle tips that are important here – sleep, diet, exercise – but there are plenty of other places were you can get that advice.

For what it's worth, I really focused on exercise to keep me level headed. It was summer time, so I could do long walks after the kids were in bed, giving me time for reflection and to clear my head.

A more practical tip is to really lean on your Board members (and/or other advisors if you have them) for support.

These Board members have skin in the game with you, and tend to have seen many deals before and have useful networks that can help you too.

For me, bringing them onto the team was a real source of strength and support. They were life-savers, and stepped in to help me a number of times when I needed it.

We had regular calls where I would update them on negotiations, any issues that had arisen and where I needed help, and we could convene at short notice if there was an urgent issue.

You can read a deep dive on that here: How your Board can help your company sale.