In 2000 I founded Mexit, my first consultancy. Intercultural management, diversity and communication. Seven years later we were 22 consultants. Then I sold it.
Building is one skill
Growing from one person to 22 teaches you that the work changes faster than you do. First you do everything. Then you hire people who do it better. Then your job is to get out of their way.
Letting go is another
Nobody trains you for the sale. You spend years making a company depend on you, and then you have to prove that it does not. A company that cannot run without its founder is not finished.
Code taught me systems. Selling taught me people.
The day after
The day after the sale you find out what you actually built. Not the revenue. The people, the method and the reputation. Those came with me into everything since: a trade centre, a fund, a festival and a startup ecosystem.
If you are building now, ask the question early. What would this company be without you?
