Life of an entrepreneur post a successful exit

There has been enough said and written about the life or rather the tough life of an entrepreneur, his busy day-to-day schedule, how he is always on his toes etc. However, not much has been said about the life of an entrepreneur post a successful exit.

Starting a business is tough, running it is equally tough, scaling it is tougher and selling it at a high is the toughest. Very few entrepreneurs manage to reach this stage of successful exit often termed as the pinnacle of entrepreneurial success. The definition of a successful exit differs from person to person. Some may go bonkers with $1 million exit while some may define the success amount nothing less than a billion dollars. The key here is not the absolute numbers but a sum huge enough to last atleast your lifetime if not for your next generation without having to work another day.

Its a dream for many entrepreneurs to retire young with a successful multimillion dollar exit which only a few achieve. Lets take a look at the post exit lives of those rare entrepreneurs after they successful selloff.

1. Go on vacations:- With millions lying your bank account and no pressing deadlines and monday morning pressure, now is the best time for you to go on your dream vacation that you always dreamt of. Many entrepreneurs post exit go on vacations to their favourite spots, go to an unexplored new destination or on world tours for months living like a nomad spending time in each country for a few days to months.
2. Pursue a new hobby:- Most entrepreneurs would pursue their most favourite hobby which they had been pushing off due to busy days running their startups. Some take learning music, ballroom dancing, wine tasting or anything that they like.
3. Going back to school:- Although this set of entrepreneurs are rare but they do exist. Some go back to schools to study a new course, some go abroad to pursue a degree. Some people have this dream of a foreign education but due to whatever reasons they are not able to achieve it so such people find this an ideal time to fulfil those dreams. A case in point being Phanindra Sama of Redbus. After selling it off for $101 million in 2013 Phanindra went to study in London, Sweden and Stanford during his mid 30s.
4. Angel investor:- This is a natural progression for someone who has successfully exited with a few million dollars. They can use their money and expertise in guiding new entrepreneurs to success. Many entrepreneurs take this oath post their exits. Example:- Aprameya Radhakrishnan, co-founder of Taxi For Sure turned into an angel investor post selling it for $200 million to Ola. Flipkart’s Sachin Bansal.
5. Starting over a new venture:- Entrepreneurs cannot resist the temptation to start something new and therefore many entrepreneurs post exit start another venture. Some start immediately while some wait for a few months to years before taking the plunge. For them money is just one part of it, the idea of doing something challenging, being involved in it and building a dream which is bigger than themselves is what matters the most. Therefore irrespective of the money in their account an entrepreneur can rarely sit still. The term for such people are serial entrepreneurs. Examples in this segment are galore. Elon Musk- Paypal, SpaceX, , Sir Richard Branson- VIrgin Group, Mukesh Bansal- Myntra, Curefit, Vishal Gondal- IndiaGames, Goqii, Oliver Samwer- Rocket Internet.