Seller's remorse

The New York Times has just posted an article on the sad price of entrepreneurial success--selling the business to someone who does not share your vision for the company you founded. 



Making the transition from charismatic leader to hired hand or outsider can be difficult for anyone who poured their lives into a startup, but the sense of loss can be even greater for folks who see themselves as social entrepreneurs.  After all, chances are that the mega-corporation paying big bucks for a socially responsible firm is eyeing its profits, not its public values.  Once the founders are gone, there's a real risk that the company's heart and soul will soon follow.



How you deal with success can be as crucial as how you adapt to problems.  In Pretty Woman a hooker with a heart of gold dissuades a corporate raider from gutting a family business committed to its local stakeholders, but as a practical matter that's not a sustainable M&A strategy, at least if you live outside Nevada. 



For an example of a company whose founders managed to exert an influence long after they were gone, check out the ABC Family cable network.  The channel was originally part of Pat Robertson's nonprofit Christian Broadcasting Network empire, and thanks to a contractual condition of its sale ABC has to keep "family" in the channel's name and must broadcast the 700 Club three times a day.