Selling Your Startup

21The Emotional Roller Coaster during Acquisitions

In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote the book On Death and Dying. The book explores the five stages of grief: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In the book, Kübler-Ross provides examples and stories illustrating how imminent death and the aftermath affect everyone around a person who is in the process of dying.

The book offers a framework to help people who are in the grieving process. Believe it or not, getting your company acquired often leads to a grieving process. The grieving process emerges because ultimately everyone associated with the company will never experience the business as it was prior to the acquisition closing. Significant change can trigger grief.

Yet, selling your startup can be one of the most exciting moments you'll ever experience in your lifetime. It can certainly be one of the most exhilarating and pivotal. But it can also be one of the most trying and stressful periods you'll ever have to go through.

There is very little information out there for entrepreneurs about the M&A process, and even less is good-quality information. It's almost impossible to find info and stories on the mental and emotional aspects of this roller-coaster ride.

Entrepreneurs rarely open up about the reality of launching and building a startup, fundraising, and the many daily failures and trials involved.

To my knowledge, at the time of writing and publishing this book, there really hasn't ...