I've announced this before, but the terms kept changing. This time, I have it all in clear writing. I have one more payment, and I am done at the beginning of April. It's been seven years since I sold my startup.

How did I get here? Long story short: I was dumb and made emotional decisions.

At first, I opted for less money upfront for more later based on the new venture's success. That didn't work out. Then, I kept going to rescue the company and agreed to multiple contracts.

Finally, to get myself out, I agreed to give up all performance incentives (the company wouldn't meet targets anyway). This included a big balloon payment if the company got sold again. I said no thanks. I wanted a clean break, and they begrudgingly agreed.

Then, they asked me if I would buy back the startup. I considered it, but they wanted me to buy the entire company instead of just the software—a deal breaker. I said H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks-NO.

Of course, it wasn't over. Then they offered me a contract to run things for a year as they tried to find another buyer. You can imagine how that conversation went.

I'm ALMOST there. I'll be transparent. It's been HELL. I'm sorry, but the money was just not worth it. I was better off not selling it, making as much money as possible, and then winding it down.

I just thought I would continue to share openly about the startup journey.

If any of you are in the same boat, let's commiserate!