So you’ve exited — now what?

Too Long; Didn't Read

I’ve worked on Wall Street, I’ve been a professional angel investor and now I’m a venture capitalist. Throughout my career I’ve been surrounded by people who are focused on the “exit”. And even if their primary motivation wasn’t <strong>the</strong> exit, the dynamics of their activities lent themselves to a culmination that was, in substance, <strong>an</strong> exit. But the fascinating thing I’ve witnessed on many occasions, across an array of bright and successful people who made money a variety of different ways, is that once they’re faced with an exit, they are paralyzed about what to do with their new-found wealth. I suppose this is why brokers scan headlines for M&amp;A and <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/ipo" target="_blank">IPO</a> activity, and deluge senior members of the exiting teams with lots and lots and lots of calls (and emails and Fedexes and toys and…) offering their services. The problem is both who to trust, and the feeling that doing nothing isn’t the right thing, so feeling pressured to do something.