I spent 14+ years building a software company which was acquired late last year. I left six months later, and ever since, the company has been stumbling. Almost every customer is complaining, and they're texting me and copying me on their emails. I made no money from the sale (it all went back to investors) so I should not feel an obligation to help, but do and keep getting sucked in. How do I let go?
Founders who've sold your company, how do you let go when the new team stumbles?
byu/velospeed inEntrepreneur
Posted by velospeed
16 Comments
Sounds like an opportunity to make money by stepping in for a high fee to fix what they screwed up and make the customers happy. If the customers associate you with the product that closely they may insist you stay on in this high value role. I think you have the upper hand here.
Start by ignoring the texts. They need to figure this out on their own or pay you a lot of money to help them.
If your goal was to follow your former company forever, interact with your former company forever, try making 100% of clients happy 100% of the time for 100% of the rest of your life – you should not have sold the company….
Your goal was to make that $$$$$$$ by selling, now all of those issues are the new owners problems to deal with……
If the new owner wants you involved or wants you to fix any of these issues – be sure to charge an appropriate rate for your time – $225/hr is a decent starting point
If you just “can’t move on” – then start up a new company, again, and give 100% of your time and energy to YOUR new company
You need to draw the line in the sand, as you continue walking forward in life, learn to stop turning around to look behind the lines that you’ve moved past
First, tell them you are no longer part of the company and you cannot help them much. Second, Ask them about their problem, find out everything they are facing. Third, Tell them you can help for little things but for any significant help you will need to be paid.
What’s your noncompete look like? Can you open a new company providing concierge type OldThing support?
Alternatively, can you consult/contract with/for the new owners?
Not what you asked, of course.
What is your current non-compete status?
Start a new company without investors
You turn on the empathy with the clients, you listen to them, you bring them over to your new company
This whole- made no money on the sale… now’s your time to do that
How did you start/build a company, sell the company, and then make $0 from the sale? Am I reading that right?
Refer them back to whoever is in charge. At some point they should offer to pay you to step back it sounds like or suggest they hire you to consult or short term to fix things.
Be a highly paid consultant for them.
Helps them succeed and gets you the money you deserve.
Investors also pay the cost of letting people go ahead of time.
If your girlfriend and you break up amicably, and now she’s with some loser, what would you do?
I’d reply with my hourly consulting rate, and nothing more.
Either let go and move on… Or make a bid to come back.
Either sell it as loss avoidance to the new guys… Or if you’re more bold get together a bid to buy it at a lower price and right the ship. Make sure you get paid out the second time.
3rd option is to fuck the non compete and build up what they do.
I told my lawyer that I still wanted to help. He explained how much personal liability I was taking on with absolutely no corporate veil or even case law to protect me. His exact words were “misrepresentating yourself as an executive with a company you no longer work for”. It’s been a few decades, but I don’t think the legal risk has changed.
Why did you sell if you made no money?
They should employ you
Start a new company…take the clients…