A CEO named Christophe sold his company and suddenly lost all motivation to work, wanting to sail instead. The speaker learned to ask founders before acquiring them: will this sale change your life so much you'll want to leave? Founder motivation matters more than the deal itself.
You were so motivated during the deal. And he told me, you know, Christophe, when I was CEO of that company, I didn't have cash and I didn't realize that at the moment I would sell, I had this type of amount of money on my bank account and now my life has changed. And frankly speaking, waking up in the morning to do what I used to do in the past doesn't make any sense and I cannot motivate myself. And I thought that was very honest from him. And that's something I'm checking all the time now when we are acquiring a company is, does it change the life of the person? And is this person ready to continue under those new circumstances? And that person in particular, he said, you know, I simply want to sail now. I want to go on an island, sail, and I will be happy. And that's respectable.
