Tuesday, September 18, 2007

When To Sell, When to Hold?


Interesting post on why a particular entrepreneur decided to sell for $5m instead of holding out, raising another round and going for it (where "it" might or might not be substituted for by "broke").

Hard to argue either with the maths or with the overall logic. Indeed, the most remarkable thing about Silicon Valley might well be the number of people who have gone down the wrong road, relying on hubris and blind-faith instead of a more reasoned analysis of what their longer-term business options actually are. Of course, selling-out at the first hurdle isn't always the right decision for a business owner, any more than declining to be the 5th Beatle was a good move for Messrs Best, Preston and others when opportunity came-a-knockin'. However, I'd bet a big tranche of company stock on finding that the total number of those who should have sold and didn't is far higher than those who could of and passed.

Regrets like those can last a lifetime.

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