SITUATION
At age 63, Michael Lipper sold his firm to Reuters. His assessment of the sale follows:
One of the reasons we sold our business to Reuters was because we knew we probably couldn't manage the technology of the future by ourselves. Any entrepreneur who builds a business for as long as I have would be dishonest if he did not suffer a certain sadness [from selling]. If [Reuters] makes a wonderful success out of this, there may be some ego pain. If they muck it up, they've damaged our name and hurt our people.
Lois Silverman co-founded CRA Managed Care (now known as Concentra Managed Care). When the firm went public in 1995, Silverman's stake was over $10 million. After taking Concentra public, Silverman gave up all involvement in day-to-day operations. Along with 12 other successful businesswomen, she formed the not-for-profit Commonwealth Institute, to help women entrepreneurs set up boards and secure capital. She also became involved with a newspaper called Women's Business. She later told this story:
The other day a man said to me on a golf course, "I hope I hit this ball, because since I've left my business, I don't know what to do with myself." And I said to myself, "I'm so lucky
Question 1 Compare the people in the above true stories in terms of their feelings about exiting their fi rms.
Question 2 What might explain the difference between those who have positive feelings about cashing out and those who do not?