Most people talk about exits like they are clean and simple. They are not. Going through an exit process as an entrepreneur is one of the hardest emotional and operational challenges you will ever face.

I went through it three different times. Three times I thought my life was about to change. Three times it fell apart.

The first time was the most painful. We had just raised a fresh round of funding and an all cash offer for $55 million dollars came in. That kind of money would have changed my life forever. One of my board members looked at the number and said, "I do not want anything with a five in it". They rejected it because it did not give them the multiple they wanted. They would have made 3x their money a few weeks after investing. I walked out of that meeting stunned.

The second time was with one of the top technology companies in the world. We were scheduled to go in the next morning and secure the deal. That night, we got the call. They were pulling out. They were worried we were too small to handle the volume that would come with their global sales team. They told us to grow up a little. I did not sleep for a week afterwards.

The third time was a nice cash offer, but with an earn out attached to it. I have seen too many founders never see the back half of their earn out money. There are a thousand ways those deals can get structured so that you never hit the targets. I decided not to take it.

Here is what no one tells you. You still have to run the business. You still have payroll. You still have customers. You still have people who trust you. While all of this is happening you are carrying the emotional weight of possibly making millions of dollars personally and trying to keep your focus at the same time. It is a mental battle that only founders truly understand.

The best advice I can give is this. Go through the process but never assume the deal is real until every signature is done and the money has fully cleared. It is just like buying a house. A deal can fall apart at anytime during the buying process. You are not "closed" until the keys are in your hand and you are walking through that front door.

Stay grounded. Stay focused. And never let the promise of future money distract you from the work that keeps your company alive today.