Nobody talks about post-exit life. So here's my story.
I've spoken with 50+ founders who sold their businesses or left their companies, sometimes by choice, sometimes pushed out.
The same struggles kept coming up.
For me, the weirdest period of my life came after I left Lucis, my first startup.
I'll be honest: it hit me hard.
- Losing your identity and motivation.
- Feeling worthless without the company.
- Pressure to build something new.
- A strong tension between ego-driven and instinct-driven decisions (this one is really, really hard)
Many founders fall into this.
They won't say it publicly, for fear of complaining about champagne problems or looking shameless.
And almost nothing you do solves it on its own.
You can travel. It's great for a while, then you feel useless and guilty.
You can do all the saunas (I do one sauna a week though), therapies and wellness stuff you want.
Nothing changes your thinking.
Or Introspection can start, and it helps. But you can spend so long analysing yourself that you stop doing anything.
Many founders stay quiet because talking about this feels shameful.
I'll never forget that period.
I'm curious how other founders felt after getting acquired, selling their business, or exiting.
Tell me your story at [email protected].