On the surface, exiting a business should be a moment of joy and celebration for any entrepreneur. All that effort, hard work, and stress is paid back with a new promise of wealth, freedom, and independence.

But what about underneath the surface?

What does life after exit mean for an entrepreneur’s wellbeing? What does it mean for their sense of meaning and purpose? How can they direct this purpose to new, exciting ventures?

These are the questions that Professor Bala Vissa has spent a career exploring. As Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD, he examines entrepreneurs as people, not just business leaders.

And, alongside our Co-Founder Stefan Liniger, Professor Vissa is a host of INSEAD’s Post-Exit Entrepreneurs Retreat (PEER) programme. Together, they work with entrepreneurs from around the world to help them write their own next chapter.

We spoke to Professor Vissa to learn more.

 

1. What challenges do entrepreneurs face after exiting their business?

When we think about post-exit entrepreneurs, we tend to picture a financial exit, alongside various operational considerations.

For example: we might imagine an entrepreneur choosing between becoming an employee of the business, or leaving entirely to start something new. Or we might imagine an entrepreneur turning to a financial advisor to help them govern their wealth. Ultimately, we tend to imagine these as practical, operational choices.

There’s no denying that those challenges are real. But I think we tend to overlook another type of challenge: the emotional and personal issues that can confront post-exit entrepreneurs.

In my experience, entrepreneurs are extremely focused, single-minded, and hard-working. It’s perhaps no surprise that, after exiting their business, they can experience a sense of loss – perhaps even of meaning and purpose.

In fact, I’ve even heard some entrepreneurs describe it in a way that’s similar to postpartum depression. A parent has a beautiful new baby, and is expected to be super happy. But inside, they’re suffering. The same can be said for entrepreneurs: yes, they have completed a successful exit, and yes, they may have lots of money in the bank. But at the same time, they may feel empty inside.

After all, building a business is an all-consuming activity that can take over one’s entire life. What happens to you as an individual when you no longer have that? Even the most driven entrepreneurs may struggle to re-construct this sense of meaning.

 

2. How can this affect an entrepreneur’s personal identity?

Humans think of their lives as narratives: I’m an academic, I’m a student, I’m an entrepreneur, and so on as a way of providing meaning and coherence to our lives.

It’s an essential part of telling ourselves, and the outside world, who we are. And it also guides what we do: I am an entrepreneur, and therefore I ought to take this particular next step.

What happens, then, when we experience a (positive) change – such as a significant liquidity event – that allows us to craft a future narrative quite different from the past? That’s one of the fundamental questions PEER is designed to explore.

We encourage our participants to think of their life as a simple 2×2 framework: professional and personal identity on one axis, family and society as the audience on the other. This framework enables our participants to broaden the palette of themes to discuss post-exit and thus explore issues such as:

• Family wealth, and renewing relationships that may have suffered during the building of the business
• Individual burnout and stress, which perhaps wasn’t – or couldn’t be – acknowledged previously.
• Impact investing or philanthropy as a potential next “chapter” in an entrepreneur’s narrative.
• Giving back professionally through influencing policy as well as mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs and so forth.

As you can see, our approach supposes that successfully exiting a business is far more than just a financial, operational challenge.

 

3. How can entrepreneurs begin to respond?

The word I use is decompression. I think it’s essential for post-exit entrepreneurs to take time to psychologically decompress before attempting a new adventure, whatever that might be.

And it’s important that entrepreneurs take time to understand where to direct their talent and effort next. After all, life after exit can be daunting – but also exciting.

There’s no set process for how long this might take – I’ve seen it take six months, or two years. And there’s no set process for how an entrepreneur should spend this time.

I’ve known entrepreneurs who have spent their time sailing and skiing, or backpacking around Argentina, or sitting down to write a book.

 

4. Why is this decompression so important?

Because of the stresses that come with building a business.

These stresses can come from external forces, like venture capital partners, who may prioritise a successful exit over the wellbeing of their entrepreneurs. Or from the current cult of self-sacrifice that surrounds entrepreneurship. One only needs to spend a little time on social media to see entrepreneurs being praised for pushing themselves to the limit.

Or these stresses might come from within the entrepreneur themselves. It’s well-known how founders have an extraordinary tolerance for pain, and ability to defer gratification – similar to elite athletes or performers.

Entrepreneurs can take on a lot of stress precisely because they are so resilient. So their self-care might take a back seat as they focus on building their business.

That’s something I’ve experienced at PEER. In our previous retreat, two entrepreneurs shared how they had been encouraged to attend by their spouses, who could see the toll that running the business was taking on their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

 

5. Why is a community like PEER useful in addressing these challenges?

I think that’s the important word: community.

We all know that the chances of becoming a successful entrepreneur are incredibly small. If you took a sample of 1,000 entrepreneurs attempting to build new ventures, you might find 300 who will build businesses capable of generating revenue. Of that sample, the number still in business five years later will be even smaller. And, of course, the number who successfully exit their business will be even smaller still – probably less than 10.

In short: it’s easy for entrepreneurs to feel alone, and to feel that no one else can relate to them.

With PEER, participants are connected to others who are going through similar experiences. For example: in our last retreat, we discussed how to deal with envy, and the reality that entrepreneurs sometimes lose friends because of their success.

This opportunity to exchange with people who may have had the same experience can be – for want of a better word – almost therapeutic.

 

6. What are the other main benefits of attending PEER?

One of the other benefits is clarity. As I said earlier: humans think of their lives as narratives, where chapter one is followed by chapter two, then three, and so on. These narratives provide meaning and coherence to our lives and often guide our next big moves.

Our participants come to us at the end of a particular chapter. But what comes next? How do they write chapter four, five, or six?

By the end of PEER, we hope participants leave with greater clarity on what those chapters might include – and what they might mean for their personal identity, their family, their wealth plan, and so on. And, just as importantly, we hope they leave with a renewed excitement about their future ventures.

The other main benefit is the chance to connect – even become friends – with people who might have similar experiences, but come from radically different places. We’re always excited to see participants drawn from different nationalities, sectors, and interests – and believe it makes for a richer, more engaging experience.

 

7. What do you think the future holds for entrepreneurship?

It’s important to say that there is no one “type” of entrepreneur. An entrepreneur from Denmark will be quite different from an entrepreneur from Indonesia, for example.

But it’s clear that entrepreneurs are a unique kind of individual, capable of proactively creating and changing society. They are the disruptors and innovators. So, as entrepreneurs begin to think more holistically about their purpose, I believe we’ll see them thinking more mindfully about how they do something purposeful with their money, rather than simply keeping or growing it.

So, if we were to look forward to another five years, I think we’ll see an increase in understanding that entrepreneurs can do an enormous amount of good in tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. That’s very much part of our work at PEER, and one we find our participants receptive to.

If you’re interested in attending the next Post-Exit Entrepreneurs Retreat in March 2024, email stefan.liniger@conduct.swiss for more information.

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