<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/51ed81216bb3f70343000007-623-467/wiley-cerelli.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Wiley Cerelli" width="480" />Michael Seto Photography for Business Insider<keyword id="1757138" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wiley-Cerilli">Wiley Cerilli</keyword>, <keyword id="36740" type="POSITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="founder">founder</keyword> of <keyword id="1757139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="SinglePlatform">SinglePlatform</keyword> and VP of <keyword id="284708" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Constant-Contact">Constant Contact</keyword>.</div></div>Entrepreneurs say <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/loneliness-and-startups-2013-7">starting a company without a co-founder</a> can be an isolating experience.
There's no one to share ups and downs with, brainstorm with, or banter with.
But for a few solo entrepreneurs, the difficult and lonely experience pays off. David Karp was technically the only founder of Tumblr, although he had early help from employees like Marco Arment. Wiley Cerilli, founder of SinglePlatform, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">sold his local business listing company to Constant Contact last summer for $100 million in cash, stock and employee incentives</a>. He was also a solo founder.
Here's Cerilli's <keyword id="70503" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="advice">advice</keyword> to other entrepreneurs who are founding <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> alone.
<ul>
<li>Find your purpose. In the early days of SinglePlatform I really focused my work on validating the market by meeting with local businesses. What I found was an incredible opportunity for small businesses, especially given the proliferation of online sites where consumers could search for a business. This market need was a major driver for me and motivated me to become the sole founder of SinglePlatform. So while the early days of validating the market was a solo exploration period for me, the reward of learning about the market need for SinglePlatform definitely helped push me forward and outweighed the negatives of tackling those challenges by myself.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Find a support group. I found that with all of the ups and downs that comes with being a sole founder, it’s very important to find a pier support group. What helped me a lot was connecting with other CEO’s in CEO forum groups like VenWise, as well as having regular one-on-one dinners with various CEO’s. By doing this, you realize that other people are going through something very similar. You don’t feel so alone and you can get great feedback from people who have just gone through what you are going through to help be more successful.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Celebrate your wins before moving on to the next milestone. In the early days, especially when wins were off in the distance, times were tough. With all the pressure on your shoulders, all you can think about is getting to that next milestone. Then once you hit that benchmark, your focus immediately goes to hitting the next one without even appreciating what you just did. I saw Jed York, CEO of the 49ers, speak and he said that you have to remember to celebrate your wins, and celebrate them with your team. Especially in an environment where you are always working to hit that next milestone, celebrating your wins is critical.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Focus on company culture. Another piece of advice I would give a sole founder is to really focus on your company culture. Creating a great culture starts with a sole founder and is influenced by the types of individuals that you surround yourself with. At SinglePlatform, we have a work hard/play hard culture and I think that's important for any startup trying to both build the business, but also attract top talent, especially here in NYC as the technology community continues to grow with young talent eager to be a part of the next big thing. This aspect of culture is one of the main reasons why we have integrated so well with Constant Contact. We all share a common drive to help small businesses succeed.</li>
</ul>

How A Founder Who Sold His Company For $100 Million Survived The Brutal, Early Days Of A Startup Alone

<div><div dir="ltr"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/56b8e6e12e526555008b5bf8-1349-1012/wiley &amp; matt 2016.jpg" alt="good uncle founders wiley cerilli" data-mce-source="Good Uncle" />Good UncleGood Uncle founders Wiley Cerilli and Matt Doumar</div></div></div>Wiley Cerilli, Good Uncle's co-founder and co-CEO, has done it all.He went to college with the intent of becoming of a teacher. After a year at Syracuse, he dropped out and transferred to NYU before ultimately dropping out again to join Seamless, which was just getting started at the time.In 2010, Cerilli founded SinglePlatform, a startup that helped get small businesses online and manage all of their listings in one place. Two years later, Cerilli's startup <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6?page=1">sold to email company Constant Contact</a> for $100 million.Then, in addition to running his own company, Cerilli joined New York City venture capital firm First Round Capital in 2014 as a venture partner. Since then, he's invested in companies like David Tisch's swipe-to-shop startup Spring, and adoption startup Binti. While he was at First Round, Cerilli had an idea for a food startup. He approached Josh Kopelman, another partner at the firm, in July 2015, with the idea, but didn't tell Kopelman the startup idea was his. Kopelman told Cerilli to bring the company into a partner meeting. When Cerilli revealed the idea for the company was his, Kopelman said: "I think you should quit your job and do this."With his boss's blessing, Cerilli quit his job at First Round, brought Matt Doumar - who had built SinglePlatform's entire product team - on board as a cofounder, and got started on a company that would eventually become known as Good Uncle.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/56b8f68b2e5265b9008b5c9e-720-540/first round capital.jpg" alt="First Round Capital partners" data-mce-source="First Round Capital" data-mce-caption="TOP (L to R): Bill Trenchard, Chris Fralic, Howard Morgan, Josh Kopelman; BOTTOM: Phin Barnes, Rob Hayes, Wiley Cerilli" data-link="http://firstround.com/people" /><a href="http://firstround.com/people">First Round Capital</a>TOP (L to R): Bill Trenchard, Chris Fralic, Howard Morgan, Josh Kopelman; BOTTOM: Phin Barnes, Rob Hayes, Wiley Cerilli of First Round Capital</div></div></div>There's plenty of competition in the food delivery space, but Cerilli and Doumar have a way to make Good Uncle stand out.The gist of it is this: Getting great food delivered to you is really hard outside of major cities like New York City. But instead of bringing expansive, overwhelming menus to people in smaller cities, Good Uncle wants to cook and sell just a few items from the world's most iconic restaurants - the two most popular salads from a place like Sweetgreen, for example, or the most popular pizza from Roberta's in Brooklyn - in smaller, non-NFL cities, like New Haven or Syracuse, places that have dense populations but lack easy access to great food.Good Uncle is delivery-only, and you order the food through an app. When you open the app, you'll get fewer options than a company like Seamless, but it's a more immersive experience. You'll be shown a video of a chef in Williamsburg making the burger that's on the menu, or stories about the history of the neighborhood where the restaurant is based. The food doesn't get delivered by the restaurants; instead, it will be prepared in Good Uncle's kitchens, after the chefs spend a lot of time with each restaurant learning the recipe. Good Uncle will not work with national restaurant chains. The goal is, for example, to "bring the cool insider story of Williamsburg to new markets, to show you the West Village restaurant you'd never heard of," Cerilli told us. Cerilli and Doumar are the company's co-CEOs.The name Good Uncle reminded Cerilli and Doumar of family, and of someone who introduced them to new, cool things. Good Uncle is the one who's in the know. For a food discovery and delivery startup, the name made sense.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/56b8ffc26e97c61a008b5d89-799-599/wiley &amp; matt 2011.jpg" alt="wiley cerilli single platform" data-mce-source="Good Uncle" />Good UncleWiley Cerilli and Matt Doumar</div></div></div>Good Uncle has raised $2.2 million from institutional investors including First Round, Box Group, and tech law firm Gunderson Dettmer. The founders of a number of NYC startups, including Warby Parker, Birchbox, Flatiron Health, Seamless, Sweetgreen, and Doumar and Cerilli's old company, SinglePlatform, have all invested in the startup. Restaurateur Tom Colicchio, made famous when he starred on Bravo TV's "Top Chef," is also an investor.<div><div dir="ltr">Now that the startup has funding, it plans to build out a team and an app, and approach restaurants, launching in its first (and yet-to-be-determined) market in September. The startup will also get its own office space eventually, too - for now, it's operating out of First Round's New York offices.What's it like for Cerilli to be getting back into food delivery? "I can't frigging believe it," he says with a laugh. "I can't believe I'm doing food again."</div></div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-made-billions-life-story-2015-12">The insanely successful life of Uber billionaire Travis Kalanick</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xwY2lmdjrD0sKNXKjphpxxEqtRvRDYXG" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'xwY2lmdjrD0sKNXKjphpxxEqtRvRDYXG',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

He was an early Seamless employee, sold his next company for $100 million, and became a VC - now he's launching a food delivery startup

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58c02938402a6b1c008b4b5b-2400/undefined" alt="Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump" data-mce-source="Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: Ivanka Trump dances with husband Jared Kurshner at the Liberty Inaugural Ball on January 20, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Liberty Ball is the first of three inaugural balls that President Donald Trump will be attending.">Photo by Rob Carr/Getty ImagesJared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.</img></div></div></div>Signing up to carry out Donald Trump's vision of America has come at a cost to many of the president's closest allies.Some have found it a constant struggle to balance their reputations and their newfound access to power.Perhaps no one knows this better than Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Kushner, 36, has been described as the most powerful aide to the president of the United States. He and his wife, Donald Trump's oldest daughter Ivanka, moved to Washington, DC, from New York so Kushner could take an unpaid role as one of Trump's senior advisers. On Monday, Trump appointed Kushner as the head of the new White House Office of American Innovation, whose aim is to overhaul government operations using ideas from the business world.But so far, Kushner has found himself caught between two worlds, both inside the White House and out. Within its walls, he is considered <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/inside-trumps-white-house-new-york-moderates-spark-infighting-and-suspicion/2017/03/18/51e3c4d2-0b1c-11e7-a15f-a58d4a988474_story.html">a mediator between warring factions</a> - the "Republican populists" like chief strategist Steve Bannon, and the "Democrats," the more left-leaning members of Trump's inner circle. Kushner is considered one of the "Democrats."But outside, liberals who knew Kushner before his administration role have grown concerned. They are no longer sure where he stands - for Trump's America or theirs - and the uncertainty has fractured relationships.Business Insider spoke with a number of people who knew Kushner before and during Trump's campaign, as well as people who are close to him now. Their feelings toward Trump's apparent protégé mirrors the polarization of the country.Trump, they seem to feel, is a black and white issue: You can be for or against his policies.But Kushner is an uncomfortable swirl of gray."The hope was that with Jared, there at least was someone who was smart and thoughtful and potentially doing the right things behind the scenes," one person who previously worked with Kushner told Business Insider.But people "hate him right now," they continued. "Not just him as a person so much but what he stands for and the fact that he hasn't been able to use his position to do anything meaningful for what we stand for."Another person who attended Kushner's wedding in 2009 agreed former acquaintances are "seething." "I'm not planning on being friends," this person said. "I don't think I'm going to be over it. ... I feel really, really upset about what they're doing. I think it's so terrible and so disruptive that I can't get over that. I can't endorse that."Kushner has seen enough relationships break that he now has a word for it: "Exfoliation." He is shedding dead relationships like skin cells being scrubbed from a body.And one particularly bad break-up last July may have inspired it. <h2>A relationship sours</h2>In September 2015, Jared Kushner met startup founder Wiley Cerilli. Kushner approached him about a business he was launching in the hope that Cerilli might agree to run it.Cerilli declined the offer but told Kushner he wanted to find a way to work with him. He felt Kushner was sharp and had a healthy outlook on life. That way would be a food delivery startup Cerilli launched that winter. In January 2016, Kushner invested in his seed round - the first money a founder raises from outside investors. Sources familiar with the deal say Kushner's investment was a relatively small amount for a venture capitalist, no more than a few hundred thousand dollars.Over the next few months, the pair didn't talk much. But Cerilli watched as Donald Trump took to the campaign trail and delivered increasingly divisive speeches. He often noticed Kushner photographed by the candidate's side, but he never heard Kushner speak out against what was said. Cerilli, a life-long liberal, grew increasingly concerned. In June, Trump went on an 11-minute rant about federal judge Gonzalo Curiel, attacking him over his Mexican heritage and saying he could not fairly preside over a case involving Trump University because of Trump's vows to crack down on illegal immigration and build a wall along the Mexican border.That's when Cerilli, who said he viewed the comments as racist, cracked. Cerilli consulted a group of CEOs and investors for advice. They encouraged him to rid himself of his Kushner association, if only because it had become a distraction to his business. Also during that time, Trump had become the Republican presidential nominee.In late July, Cerilli Kushner scheduled a phone call. Kushner thought he was getting an ordinary business update.Instead, he was getting dumped. <h2>'I don't give a shit. Send me the paperwork. I'll sign'</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58c02978402a6b1c008b4b65-2400/undefined" alt="Jared Kushner" data-mce-source="Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 7: Jared Kushner sits in Vice President-elect Mike Pence's car outside of Trump Tower, December 7, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration.">Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesJared Kushner</img></div></div></div>It's not easy to get rid of an investor.Once early-stage angel investors like Kushner give money to a startup, they own a piece of the company. There are written terms that can make it easier for a founder to divorce a spouse than part with a venture capitalist.To remove Kushner from his startup financially, Cerilli had to inform his board and other investors of the decision. Then he had to persuade Kushner to sign paperwork that would give away his rights.Cerilli was nervous to address his concerns with Kushner. He wrote down a script and took notes of Kushner's reaction. Cerilli later sent those notes to his investors so that he could give them an accurate update. Business Insider obtained a copy and confirmed the document's authenticity. "If you can hear me out for a few minutes," Cerilli said, according to the notes, "then I would be happy to listen to you."He continued: "A lot has changed in this country since you invested. ... I am personally and now professionally overwhelmed and concerned with the rhetoric and public discourse on a number of fronts with regard to Trump."Cerilli said that even if Kushner didn't agree with offensive comments Trump had made, he found his silence unacceptable."Your involvement is something that is not incredibly clear to me, but what is is your unwillingness to speak out against it," Cerilli said. "This is not a conversation about what he or you believe, or what he and you do and feel behind closed doors. This is about what he says and does publicly, and what is not said and done publicly by you."<blockquote class="pullquote">This is about what he says and does publicly, and what is not said and done publicly by you.</blockquote>Cerilli said that while he once felt his and Kushner's values were aligned, that no longer seemed to be the case."You seem like a good person. A smart person," he said. "I am not saying that you are a bad person, or that the way you act is wrong. I am saying that I don't agree with it, and me, [my cofounder], our team, and our investors ... would like to give you your money back."Kushner listened until Cerilli was finished. He told him the call came as a shock - and that it was "cowardly."Then, according to Cerilli's notes of the call, Kushner unleashed.He conveyed that the process of campaigning with Trump had "allowed him to exfoliate" people he once considered friends. "I am seeing which friendships break in the wind," he said, according to the document."We live in a world and time that are interesting. There are a lot of issues that need to be discussed," he added.He told Cerilli he was doing what he thought was right, with "complicated facets," and that he was "navigating it appropriately."Cerilli's decision to distance himself, Kushner said, was a "childish thing." He questioned Cerilli's character, describing his messaging as "somewhere between incredibly immature and incredibly intolerant." The decision to oust Kushner seemed emotional, not based on facts. He questioned whether Cerilli knew about his actual involvement in Trump's campaign or where he stood on key issues."You clearly don't have the depth to take on a big challenge when something like this bothers you," Kushner said, "and so clearly your team doesn't either."After a few minutes, Kushner concluded: "I don't give a shit. Send me the paperwork. I'll sign."<h2>Who is Jared Kushner?</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58c029b6402a6b1c008b4b67-1967/undefined" alt="jared kushner donald trump ivanka" data-mce-source="John Minchillo/AP" data-mce-caption="Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Jared Kushner, right, husband of his daughter Ivanka Trump, center, during a campaign stop at Concord High School, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, in Concord, N.H.">John Minchillo/APRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, shakes hands with Jared Kushner, right, husband of his daughter Ivanka Trump, center, during a campaign stop.</img></div></div></div>Those who know Kushner say he never intended to go into <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword>. His heavy involvement, these sources told Business Insider, spiraled from the fact that Trump ran a non-traditional campaign with few experienced advisers, often relying on people close to him like Kushner for guidance.But now that he's involved, former friends wonder who's changed more: Trump or Kushner?Kushner and Ivanka have stayed relatively quiet during some of Trump's most controversial moments, which has fed critics' frustration. A recent "Saturday Night Live" skit summed up the sentiment. It was of a spoof ad for a perfume called "Complicit," starring Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump. The tagline?"The fragrance for the woman who could stop all of this but won't. Also available in a cologne for Jared."<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58d59e93112f70f2008b6e07-1446/screen shot 2017-03-12 at 51239 pm.png" alt="saturday night live scarlett johannson" data-mce-source="Saturday Night LIve/NBC/Screenshot">Saturday Night LIve/NBC/ScreenshotA screenshot of the "SNL" skit</img></div></div></div>Kushner's allies have two responses to those who fear he's making a Faustian bargain in exchange for power: He isn't the president. And look harder.A source familiar with Kushner's White House role says he did not go to Washington to focus on some of the more controversial Trump policies, like healthcare or the ban on immigration from several majority-Muslim countries. Instead, he is focused on issues like creating peace in the Middle East. But that doesn't mean Kushner hasn't inserted himself when he feels it's necessary. Kushner, this person said, was instrumental in killing an executive order that would have affected the LGBT community. They also say he was the force that pushed the administration to remove Iraq from the second iteration of the travel ban.Other Trump associates have faced tremendous criticism, too. SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is a member of Trump's economic advisory council, acknowledged on Twitter that the blowback has been difficult to deal with. Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, couldn't take the heat and resigned from Trump's council. "Activists should be pushing for more moderates to advise the President, not fewer," <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/828293735419109376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">Musk tweeted</a>. "How could having only extremists advise him possibly be good?"But once you've associated yourself with Trump, the only way to win might be to lose.As one Kushner defender put it: "If you're doing well in politics, only 45% of people hate you." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/awkward-moment-trump-ignores-handshake-angela-merkel-germany-politics-white-house-2017-3">Trump appears to ignore requests for a handshake with Angela Merkel during their first meeting</a></h3> <div> <div> <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="gyZ2pkYTE6P5c2q3gM2s57loZrLqoVW1" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> <script> if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; } RunFunctions.push(function() { var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'gyZ2pkYTE6P5c2q3gM2s57loZrLqoVW1',{ autoplay: 'false' }); }); </script> <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div> </div> <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script> </div>

How to lose friends and 'exfoliate' people - Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is caught between 2 worlds, and his former friends are cutting ties

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5409de87ecad04b0341fa4b3-1200-924/singleplatform-5.jpg" border="0" alt="singleplatform">Kenny Herman/SinglePlatformMembers of SinglePlatform's executive team on the day the acquisition was announced.</img></div></div></div>This is an excerpt from a story that was previously published on Business Insider, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/non-greedy-startup-ceos-who-turned-employees-into-millionaires-2014-9">How 3 CEOs Gave Up Fortunes To Turn Half Their Employees Into Millionair</a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/non-greedy-startup-ceos-who-turned-employees-into-millionaires-2014-9">es.</a>
 
Wiley Cerilli dropped in and out of college five times and never graduated. His first Manhattan apartment was modest with a blow-up mattress for a bed that frequently popped when he'd lie on it. 
Now he's 34 and a multimillionaire. In 2012, he sold his two-year-old company, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">SinglePlatform, for $100 million in cash and stock</a> to a publicly traded company, Constant Contact. Half of his employees became millionaires, even though none of their stock options had a chance to fully vest.
Here's how Cerilli rewarded employees, even though he wasn't contractually obligated to do so.
In June 2012, Wiley Cerilli wasn't expecting to sell SinglePlatform. He was in the middle of raising a large $17 million Series B investment from investors when Constant Contact swooped in and asked to take Cerilli to lunch. Within 48 hours, Constant Contact made Cerilli an offer to acquire SinglePlatform.
While Cerilli was floored by the offer, he knew it wasn't a good time to get acquired.A few weeks before the offer, SinglePlatform only had 13 full-time employees; four of them had been at the company for more than one year, which means most stock options that had been granted hadn't vested. By the time SinglePlatform got acquired, its team doubled in size to about 30 people; none of the new employees had stock options.
"You have the majority of the company, including multiple members of executive team like our COO and CTO, who had been there less than a year," Cerilli explains. "We had this amazing offer, but an acquisition then would mean they'd make $0."
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">We had this amazing offer, but an acquisition would mean employees would make $0.</blockquote>
Cerilli, who had been part of a startup that exited (food-delivery site Seamless), went over options with his investors. First Round Capital's Howard Morgan suggested a way to reward employees that would come at his and Cerilli's expenses.
"We went down the list of employees and vested people an additional year to 100% on top of whatever they were at, depending on how long they'd been at the company," Cerilli says. 
For the brand-new employees, Cerilli gave them thousands of dollars in cash bonuses and restricted stock units from Constant Contact. In the end, these adjustments turned more than half the team into millionaires. Cerilli also made sure every employee's job was guaranteed after the sale, and that everyone's job would remain in New York City. As Cerilli phrased it in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6?page=2">company-wide email</a>, the deal was a "win-win-win."
When asked why he went to lengths to help his employees, Cerilli replied: "I wanted to celebrate with the people who I was going to war with at SinglePlatform, and they should be rewarded."
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/non-greedy-startup-ceos-who-turned-employees-into-millionaires-2014-9">Now read about two other CEOs who did something similar for their employees.</a>

How A Founder Turned Half His Team Into Millionaires During A $100 Million Sale (Even Though Their Stock Hadn't Vested)

<img class="float_right" src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/4fd8acf36bb3f71012000004-480-360/avruoghcmaanif3.jpg" border="0" alt="singleplatform scott britton celebrate">There's a startup in New York everyone talks about, and the things they say aren't very nice.</img>
The startup sold for ~ $80 million and the founders got rich. But, as the rumors go, no other employee made more than $50,000.
That's a common exit scenario. The founders put in a lot of risk in the beginning, and they alone get wealthy if their company is a success.
But we found a few seasoned founders have begun to set a different precedent. Their goal - in addition to creating great products and great financial outcomes for themselves - was to create great outcomes for the people they worked with, even if their options hadn't fully vested. As a result, these CEOs turned one-third to one-half of their employees into millionaires when their startups sold for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Scott Belsky, co-founder of Behance, calls this generous mentality being "long-term greedy."
"In an acquisition scenario, there are a few weeks when you're thinking about the money you could make and it bring out the worst in people because they're near-term greedy," he says. "Anyone who wants to stay in an industry for a long time will learn that loyalty and success of individuals on your team is the most important thing."
Here's how three founders rewarded employees when their companies sold for hundreds of millions.
<h3>How MoPub Turned 36 Out of 100 Employees Into Millionaires During Its $350 Million Sale To Twitter</h3>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53fe32e46bb3f7742ec6707c-600-450/bu8lw7iieaarufz.jpg" border="0" alt="jim payne mopub" width="800">Twitter/Jim PayneTreat your employees well, and maybe they'll paint a portrait of you like the one MoPub CEO Jim Payne received.</img></div></div>Jim Payne has been part of more than one startup's exit. He was an employee at a dotcom startup that went bust, and another that got acquired. Most recently, he was the founder of MoPub, an ad tech company which was acquired by Twitter in September 2013 for $350 million. 
Having been a startup employee before, Payne knows how it feels to work hard for an outcome that only benefits a few people. 
"Exits are few and far between, even though it seems like they happen all the time in the press," Payne tells us. "It was important to me that people who took a chance on MoPub would not only have a great outcome, but they would have one that was significantly impactful to them and their future opportunities." 
Payne set his employees up for success by getting them stock early, offering performance-based stock option grants regularly, being a good negotiator, and picking ethical investors.
"The best thing you can do to help your employees make a lot of money in an outcome is to take care of them early," says Payne.
MoPub offered employees loans so they could exercise their stock options - long before an acquisition deal was on the table - to save money on taxes. The company-issued loans allowed employees to buy options at low prices and begin capital gains treatment without taking big personal, financial risks.
<blockquote class="pullquote">MoPub offered employees loans so they could exercise their stock options long before an acquisition deal was on the table.</blockquote>
 Other startups, including Olga Vidisheva's Shoptiques, have begun to implement this process. All but one MoPub employee who was offered a loan exercised the stock options.
Also, every six months to a year, Payne's team would also re-evaluate employees' stock based on performance and issue new options accordingly. This helped employees feel their work was always valued, and gave ownership to new employees who were rock stars.
"The last thing you want is have someone who joined late and is shaping up to be a rock star feel like they didn't get an outcome," says Payne.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54087488eab8ea8a3acc6059-1200-924/rich-wong-accel-partners.jpg" border="0" alt="rich wong accel partners" width="800"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdlasica/7984881829/in/photolist-daABbn-5BKjDm-nnhN8Z-mRpBn7-jmm3ev-i4Koey-d62Zod-d62YDE-d62YVA-d62YuW-d62YMj-d62Z4W-d62ZeS-9ZqEXD-bqd6Xe-Y6UqV-fTr8a-93y8D-4phpW-bqd8KB-dCgJmq-9ZsjHt-fQtemN-9MC7kk-9wt5mS-9MC7at-9MC85X-anfMxA-anh8Gf-anh9gS-anenfM-anheeN-anepEV-anhgpU-9METRs-9MC6Mp-9MC7Vp-o7WdsJ-vuDEV-and1d4-9uMu5P-8QJczy-8QJcBw-9pUVu9-8Wd5ZJ-ovZH1e-83HFXx-83LJCE-83LZ5Y-83Ho5Z">Flickr/JD Lasica</a>Investors can determine the fate of your employees during an acquisition. MoPub credits Accel Partners' Rich Wong as a big supporter during its sale to Twitter.</img></div></div>Investors also determine the financial fate of a startup's employees because most ways to reward them during an acquisition comes out of their pockets. Payne credits Rich Wong of Accel Partners as a huge supporter of MoPub's employees and culture. 
"He'd come into the office and say, 'You guys have brilliant people here,'" Payne says of Wong. "MoPub has a great vibe about it because of all the culture building we do [like annual ski trips]. Employees are looking to join something that's bigger than them, and management should be out for everyone's best interest, not just their own."
Picking the right acquirer is also key if you want to financially repay employees. 
Payne turned down three acquisition offers before Twitter came along. Turning down previous offers gave Payne the courage to negotiate more on behalf of his team when the right offer presented itself.
"The first time [I walked away from a deal], I was panicked," Payne says. "Someone is putting you all-in in poker, and whatever you consider to be your fortune is on the line. You get involved in the deal process and you start to think about the exit. It's human nature. People get attached to the idea and it's very hard to walk away."
Payne declined one very serious offer because he felt it was too early to sell Mopub, even though it would have meant financial security for himself and his family. But he says that experience allowed him to look at future deals with logic, rather than emotion. And that strategy worked when Twitter came knocking. Payne was able to ask for things, such as restricted stock units for employees and the ability to keep his team on the east coast, during the acquisition.
The end result: A $350 million buyout that made 36 of Mo Pub's 100 employees millionaires, with ten people who now have "significant" wealth.
"People need to remember that employees are putting their career eggs in your basket, and it's incumbent on you to take care of them when you can. CEOs have more leverage than they think to take care of people," says Payne. "You can hoard the whole pie for yourself, but it's a team sport you're playing. If you're doing [a startup] for ego-gratification, I don't think you're going to be a great CEO. I think you can make money along the way by being mercenary, but you'll never truly be great." 
<h3>How A Sole Founder Turned Half His Team Into Millionaires In A $100 Million Exit (Even Though None Of Them Had Vested Stock Options)<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54076e8b6bb3f75611fded2f-1200-924/singleplatform-3.jpg" border="0" alt="SinglePlatform" width="800" style="color: #000000;">Kenny Herman/SinglePlatformWiley Cerilli telling his employees about the $100 million acquisition.</img></div></div></h3>
Wiley Cerilli dropped in and out of college at least five times and never graduated. His first Manhattan apartment was modest, with a blow-up mattress for a bed that frequently popped when he'd lie on it. 
Now he's 34 and a multi-millionaire. In 2012, he sold his 2-year-old company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">SinglePlatform for $100 million in cash and stock</a> to a publicly-traded company, Constant Contact. Half of his employees became millionaires, even though none of their stock options had a chance to fully vest.
Here's how Cerilli rewarded employees, even though he wasn't contractually obligated to do so.
In June 2012, Wiley Cerilli wasn't expecting to sell SinglePlatform. He was in the middle of raising a large $17 million Series B investment from investors when Constant Contact swooped in and asked to take Cerilli to lunch. Within 48 hours, Constant Contact made Cerilli an offer to acquire SinglePlatform. 
While Cerilli was floored by the offer, he knew it wasn't a good time to get acquired.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5408731269bedd7f35b30869-1200-924/singleplatform-4.jpg" border="0" alt="singleplatform" style="color: #000000;">Kenny Herman/SinglePlatformMembers of SinglePlatform's executive team on the day the acquisition was announced.</img></div></div></div>A few weeks before the offer, SinglePlatform only had 13 full-time employees; four of them had been at the company for more than one year which means most stock options that had been granted hadn't vested. By the time SinglePlatform got acquired, its team doubled in size to about 30 people; none of the new employees had stock options. 
"You have the majority of the company, including multiple members of executive team like our COO and CTO, who had been there less than a year," Cerilli explains. "We had this amazing offer, but an acquisition then would mean they'd make $0."
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">We had this amazing offer, but an acquisition would mean employees would make $0.</blockquote>
Cerilli, who had been part of a startup that exited (food delivery site Seamless), went over options with his investors. First Round Capital's Howard Morgan suggested a way to reward employees that would come at his and Cerilli's expenses.
"We went down the list of employees and vested people an additional year to 100% on top of whatever they were at, depending on how long they'd been at the company," Cerilli says. 
For the brand-new employees, Cerilli gave them thousands of dollars in cash bonuses and restricted stock units from Constant Contact. In the end, these adjustments turned more than half the team into millionaires. Cerilli also made sure every employee's job was guaranteed after the sale, and that everyone's job would remain in New York City. As Cerilli phrased it in a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6?page=2">company-wide email</a>, the deal was a "win-win-win."
When asked why he went to lengths to help his employees, Cerilli replied: "I wanted to celebrate with the people who I was going to war with at SinglePlatform, and they should be rewarded."
<h3> How A (Mostly Bootstrapped) Startup Turned A Dozen Employees Into Millionaires During A $150 Million Exit <div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54076f296bb3f7a714fded2c-830-622/scott-belsky-matias-corea-behance-july-2012-bi-dng-1.jpg" border="0" alt="scott belsky, matias corea, behance, july 2012, bi, dng" width="800"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/daniel-goodman">Daniel Goodman / Business Insider</a>Behance co-founders Matias Corea and Scott Belsky.</img></div></div></h3>
Scott Belsky's startup Behance and Adobe had been familiar with each other for years. But Belsky, who bootstrapped Behance for five years with co-founder Matias Corea, wasn't interested in selling his company. 
"We were not interested in being acquired," Belsky tells Business Insider. "We were close to raising a Series B round of financing. Adobe had been a very logical partner of ours for many years, and we had been having conversations about collaboration. But each time we did partnerships, the deal integration was always more than either side was willing to do. I think that's a very healthy drive toward an acquisition when you're thinking of all the things you can do together."
When Adobe approached Belsky with a buy-out offer in December 2012, he and Corea gave it a lot of thought. It was a lot of money - roughly $150 million - but would it be good for Behance's users and staff?
"It seemed like an acquisition would make sense from a customer experience perspective. That's the first step [in analyzing an acquisition deal]," says Belsky. Belsky and Corea also wanted to make sure that Adobe would respect and help cultivate the work culture and brand Behance had built. Behance holds a creative conference every year, for example, and it was important to Belsky that they continue to run it under Adobe's leadership.
Next, Belsky considered what an acquisition would mean for his team from a financial and career perspective. Could he provide the same bright outlook as an independent company that Adobe could offer if the two companies merged?
"CEOs have to think about net-net, what does this mean for everyone," Belsky says. "You have to account for dilution [in a future round], market risk and team fatigue. If your team has been together for five or more years with no liquidity, will they be able to progress their lifestyles if you don't sell?"
Once Belsky and his co-founder agreed to move forward with the acquisition, they had to figure out how to take care of employees. Belsky was a first-time founder who had previously worked for Goldman Sachs; he wasn't sure what he was legally allowed to do during the sale, so he turned to Behance's angel investor and entrepreneur Chris Dixon for advice. 
"Chris was up at midnight with me during the acquisition," Belsky says. "I'd ask him, 'Can we do this? Is this possible?' He was someone I could bounce ideas off of."
Belsky and Corea ended up making a spreadsheet that listed every Behance employee's name and had two columns: what employees were expecting from a sale based on vested stock options, and what the founders felt they deserved to make. With permission from Adobe and Behance's board, Belsky set aside money from the acquisition to distribute to employees in the form of cash and RSUs. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540874e969bedd1e43b30874-1167-875/chris-dixon-13.png" border="0" alt="Chris Dixon">Business InsiderBehance angel investor Chris Dixon helped Scott Belsky figure out what was possibly when rewarding employees during the Adobe acquisition.</img></div></div></div>"You have to put yourself in the shoes of every single person on your team, from the person who's been there second-longest to the person who joined six months ago," says Belsky. "You don't have to limit yourself to what the cap chart is. You can say, 'Let's give a larger reward to this person vested over the coming years to send a message that all they have to do is continue helping the company moving forward.'"
Belsky's plan to recognize, reward and incentivize the best employees seems to have worked: two years later, not a single Behance employee has resigned from Adobe. And a dozen people on the team experienced a "very material life change" after the sale.
"You have to stand up for your employees during an acquisition and say what's right," Belsky says. "No one is looking out for these people besides [the CEO] and years from now, I wanted to be able to say that we really did right by our team, our community, and our brand.
"You have to ground yourself with the realization that you did not make this [exit] happen. You got the team together and maybe initially you took the most risk, but you did not make this happen."

These CEOs Could Have Gotten Richer When They Sold Startups For $100+ Million - What They Did Instead Is Inspiring

<div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51816881eab8ead03b000000-611-458/single-platform-alyson-shontell.jpg?maxX=400" border="0" alt="single platform alyson shontell" width="400" /></div>Alyson Shontell/FacebookCelebrating SinglePlatform's (smart) $100 million acquisition.</div>It's common sense: If someone offers you $100 million, you accept and become fabulously rich.
In Silicon Valley, common sense is replaced by an irrational desire to create an extraordinary company like Google or Facebook. For 99.99% of entrepreneurs, that mentality is profoundly stupid and the pursuit of a billion-dollar company has cost many founders life-changing fortunes.
Here are four examples of companies that turned down $100 million offers, and it may have been a mistake.
VIDDY: Last year, a video app called Viddy <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/this-story-about-a-startup-ceo-who-just-got-canned-months-after-turning-down-100-million-will-make-your-stomach-turn-2013-2">walked away from a $100 million offer</a>, then lost all of its traction. Viddy has since laid off half its staff and its CEO has been fired. 
Viddy's competitor, SocialCam, however, was smarter. It raised significantly less money than Viddy at a far lower valuation (Viddy raised $36 million at a ~ $300 million valuation). It was acquired for $60 million just months after its launch. 
The mistake Viddy made was trying to become a $1 billion company like Instagram. It's admirable but ultimately it ended in failure.
FOURSQUARE: Foursquare also had the option to sell for more than $100 million and passed. 
In 2010, one year after its launch, both <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/and-to-think-everyone-at-foursquare-could-have-been-rich-2013-1">Yahoo and Facebook offered to buy Foursquare for $100-120 million</a>. At the time, Foursquare had only raised $5 million and had a handful of employees. The money would have changed the founders' lives, and it would have been a home run for investors.
But Crowley had already sold one company to Google, Dodgeball, and he regretted it. Google promptly shut down the location app, and Crowley didn't want to see his dream shut down again. He turned down the offers and has gone on to raise $71.4 million. Foursquare is currently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/foursquare-ceo-dennis-crowley-responds-to-all-of-his-companys-haters-2013-4">fending off "haters"</a> and trying to prove its business model.
QWIKI: Google <a href="http://mashable.com/2011/01/21/qwiki-series-a/">offered to buy</a> TechCrunch Disrupt winner Qwiki for more than $100 million, but CEO Doug Imbruce turned it down. Now it's on its third pivot. 
PATH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-dave-morin-path-turned-down-a-100-million-acquisition-offer-2011-9">Path also turned down a $100 million offer</a> from Google three months after launch. Now it's getting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/path-spamming-users-2013-5">heat for spamming users</a> to maintain growth. Morin is worth millions from his time at Facebook, but his employees aren't.
Why founders turn down big money
Part of the reason founders turn down jaw-dropping sums is their desire to build world-changing companies. Sometimes they feel the acquirer isn't a good fit, or they aren't ready to give up control.
"Of course it's a tough decision because you're trying to figure out what's the best thing to do for your company," Foursquare's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-crowley-foursquare-acquisition-rumor-2012-3">Dennis Crowley said of acquisition offers</a>. "Your company is your baby at that point…You have to make a call and weigh the pros and cons." 
Another part of the equation is the investors who have a lot of money at stake. 
Benchmark investor Bill Gurley told the audience at TechCrunch Disrupt that an "anti-IPO," pro-acquisition mentality plagues the tech industry and "prohibits companies from hitting the long ball." He used Indeed as an example. Indeed is a Connecticut-based company that was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/indeed-an-almost-entirely-bootstrapped-job-search-giant-gets-a-monster-exit-2012-9">acquired for an estimated $1 billion</a> after only raising $5 million, a win by almost any other standard.
"[Indeed] had a great business model, a huge consumer brand…and they sold it,” he scoffed.
Gurley isn't the only investor urging founders to take their <keyword id="6362513" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Startups">startups</keyword> further. Last year, New York startup Single Platform faced similar pressure to avoid an acquisition. It had raised $4.45 million and was in the difficult, local-business space. Like many early stage startups, it battled near-death experiences and struggled to generate significant revenue. An investor told us then that its founder, Wiley Cerilli, was mulling over a $50 million buyout. The investor turned up his nose at the idea of a sale. 
"You'd NEVER hear a Silicon Valley startup talk about selling for $50 million," this person said.
The odds are against startups
Most startups fail. The <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3003827/why-most-venture-backed-companies-fail">odds of a venture-backed startup failing are 75%</a>. 
Yet founders, against the laws of probability, cling to the anecdotes in which founders hold out for epic, jackpot offers. Sometimes it's smart to hang on.
GROUPON: Groupon was offered $6 billion by Google, turned it down and went public. But its founder Andrew Mason is now gone, and the company might wish it had taken that exit.
PINTEREST: Pinterest hasn't succeeded yet, but it's growth hasn't slowed and its on its way to be an image-based shopping engine. While no billion-dollar acquisition offers have been made public (<a href="http://techcrunch.com/2012/01/19/ginterest/">Google was rumored to be interested</a> for a few hundred million dollars), investors think Pinterest is worth multiple billions.
FACEBOOK: Mark Zuckerberg was offered $1 billion by Yahoo in 2006 and turned it down. He's now worth ~ $13.3 billion and 1,000 of his employees are millionaires.
<h2>The smartest founders know how to ride the wave</h2>
The decision to sell a company is harder than it sounds. There's fear that investors and the tech community will think a founder is taking an easy way out.
But the smartest entrepreneurs don't let that get to them. They know when it's time to sell.
SINGLEPLATFORM: A few months after the $50 million acquisition discussion, another company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">offered to buy SinglePlatform for $100 million</a> in cash, stock and employee incentives. Cerilli was in the middle of a fundraise, and he spoke with his investors about what to do. This time, he received support. An investor told him, "Wiley, I'm excited to work with you, but you should take the offer. I'll work with you on your next company."
OMGPOP: Another entrepreneur who knew when to walk away is Dan Porter. Porter was the CEO of OMGPOP which was acquired by Zynga for ~ $200 million. Porter decided to sell his company after confiding in 10 friends and asking for their opinions. He assumed all of them would think he was "giving up" if he sold his company. To his surprise, all of them told him to sell.
Neither Porter nor Cerilli will forget the day they told employees about their acquisitions. Cerilli called up his co-worker, Kenny Herman, after the Constant Contact sale and told him he was now a millionaire. Herman, then 27, had just landed in the airport from his honeymoon.
Porter sat down with each OMGPOP employee and told them how much they had individually made. A bottle of champagne was chopped open, and an entire day of work was dedicated to paying off employee debts, such as student loans and mortgages. Porter's decision also made OMGPOP's founder, Charles Foreman, a millionaire. Before the sale Foreman had left to found a new company; he only had a few thousand dollars in his bank account.
When you're an entrepreneur with a lot of initial traction, it's easy to forget the odds are stacked against you. 
While it's hard to sell a company and wonder what you could have built if you hadn't, it's painful to know you and your employees could have been rich, and you blew it.

These Startups May Have Blown It By Turning Down $100 Million

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4fd76dd4eab8eacb69000005-563-420/yext.jpg" border="0" alt="yext employees" />Daniel Goodman via Business InsiderThumbs up all around after Yext told employees it raised $27 million. Imagine what they'd be doing after an acquisition?</div></div></div>Bryan Goldberg and his three co-founders had to wait eight torturous months to learn the fate of their startup.
Technology sites were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/turner-is-close-to-buying-bleacher-report-for-200-million-2012-6">reporting acquisition rumors</a> about their company, Bleacher Report, and each story made the founders cringe. 
The rumors were true: Bleacher Report was on the block. Turner Media, owner of CNN, was interested in buying the sports media site. 
But no paperwork had been signed and Bleacher Report didn't want to spook the potential buyer.
"It went from something that seemed out of reach, to something that was remotely possible, to something we thought might happen, to something we thought would probably happen, to something that seemed almost certain," Goldberg says. "You go to bed every night thinking there's a really good chance this deal is going to go through, and knowing at any minute it could come apart for the smallest, most abrupt of reasons."
Ultimately, Turner purchased Bleacher Report for ~ $200 million. After raising $40.5 million, each founder only owned a sliver of the company. But that sliver was still <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-better-sell-startup-20-175303675.html">worth more</a> than most people make in a lifetime. 
What's that life-changing moment like for a founder?
It's a multi-phase, emotional roller coaster.
<h2>Phase 1: Relief and Disbelief</h2>
Most founders, like Goldberg, feel relieved then euphoric when their companies sell. It takes a while for reality to set in, even after the money hits their bank accounts.
Charles Forman, the founder of gaming company OMGPOP, experienced disbelief. His acquisition came more suddenly than Bleacher Report's. 
Forman left OMGPOP in the hands of his colleague, Dan Porter, to start a new venture. When Porter told Forman about a ~$200 million acquisition offer from Zynga, it was unexpected. The offer stemmed from the abrupt success of an OMGPOP mobile game, Draw Something, and Forman only had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charles-forman-founder-omgpop-2012-3">$1,700 to his name at the time.</a> 
The acquisition news came as such a surprise, it put Forman in a daze. He <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/omgpops-founder-was-so-excited-about-his-companys-200-million-sale-to-zynga-he-almost-got-himself-killed-2012-3">wandered aimlessly into the road</a> and almost got hit by a car. 
"I walked across the street, and all I heard was 'honk,'" <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/the-new-york-times">Forman told the New York Times</a> then. "It was surreal."
While a thicker wallet is nice for startup founders, telling employees about an acquisition can be even more rewarding. 
<h2>Phase 2: Tears, Vegas and "That's It!?"</h2>
Wiley Cerilli, the founder of a business management tool Single Platform, remembers calling one of his executives, Kenny Herman, with good news. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">Constant Contact had acquired SinglePlatform for $100 million</a> in cash, stock, and employee incentives while Herman and his wife were away on their honeymoon. While the couple was still in the airport, Cerilli told them they were millionaires. The couple spent the next few minutes embracing.
Dan Porter also remembers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/startups-that-rejected-100-million-offers-2013-5">delivering acquisition news to OMGPOP employees</a>. There was a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/draw-something-creator-omgpop-office-tour-photos-2012-3">celebration at the New York City headquarters</a> which involved popping open a bottle of champagne. Porter then sat down with each employee and told them how much money they had made. An entire day of work was then dedicated to paying off debts, like student loans and mortgages. 
Goldberg recalls mixed reactions from Bleacher Report employees. Bleacher Report's executives distributed paperwork to them that stated the number of shares each owned and the share prices. Two calculators were made available so employees could punch in numbers and determine their new net-worths. Some were ecstatic and wrote the founders thank-you notes; others expressed disappointment.
"People were texting their boyfriends and girlfriends," Goldberg says. "Some people's reactions were like, 'Oh my God, this is more than I ever could have imagined.' Some people were like, 'That's it?!' You never knew what it was going to be."
Later, Bleacher Report employees took an unofficial, un-sponsored company trip to Las Vegas. Cerilli and the SinglePlatform team took one, too.
<h2>Phase 3: Remorse and Nostalgia</h2>
No matter how rich a founder becomes, the acquisition high doesn't last forever. Once it's over, some founders feel remorse.
"When the money hit the bank account, I was just relieved that this grueling eight-month process was over," Goldberg recalls. "Then you realize, I don't own this [startup] anymore, which is a very powerful feeling.
<blockquote class="pullquote">Then you realize, I don't own this [startup] anymore, which is a very powerful feeling.</blockquote>
 You go on the website and it just occurs to you, 'This isn't mine and it doesn't belong to me in any way other than from a sentimental standpoint.'"
One founder who was left bitter likened his acquisition to getting hit by a car, then getting disability money for a hurt leg. While he admits the money is nice, all he wants is his healthy leg back.
Another founder, Josh Abramson, has had years to reflect on his acquisition. Now he just feels numb.
"The moment we sold felt great," Abramson recalls. "It was something I'd been working so hard to accomplish for years. I was basically jumping up and down for weeks. The excitement of having the liquidity lasted about 6 months, then it just felt normal. My life didn't really change at all."
Abramson co-founded College Humor in his University of Richmond dorm room. College Humor sold a 51% stake to IAC for $20 million in 2006. IAC also got two of College Humor's other brands, Vimeo and Busted Tees, in the sale.
Abramson says he has no regrets about selling his company, although it's sometimes tough to hear Vimeo's current valuation. 
"I feel sort of numb about it at this point," he says. "[Selling the majority stake in College Humor] is the single most important financial decision I've made in my life so far and I made it as a 24-year-old. I don't regret the decision - I still think it was a smart thing to do at that time ... As you can probably imagine, it's the kind of decision that gets replayed in your head every now and again."
<h2>Phase 4: Back to Work, with Different Priorities</h2>
Once you've tasted your first startup win, most founders don't crave retirement or a beach. Instead, founders long for the madness of a startup all over again.
"I think with most founders, you want to work the rest of your life," says Goldberg. "I want to be working hard when I'm 80 and having money doesn't really change that." 
Goldberg has already started a new media company, <a href="http://www.bustle.com">Bustle</a>. "I just knew that I had to find another endeavor because every time I go on Bleacher Report, all I can feel is, this isn't my baby anymore," he says.
Abramson agrees. He recently purchased Busted Tees back from IAC so he could run a smaller company again. This time, his priorities are different. 
"It's literally the biggest cliche that exists - but people still forget sometimes that money doesn't buy happiness," Abramson says. "I expected that selling my company would make me feel a certain way and it didn't. Obviously having financial security is awesome to a certain point, but I realize now that having a fun company with awesome people I enjoy spending time with does so much more for my day-to-day happiness than more money in the bank ever would."

What It's Like The Moment You Sell Your Startup For Tons Of Money

<div style="padding: 15px; border: 1px solid #999999; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 15px!important; line-height: 25px; overflow: auto; vertical-align: middle;"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5242eda169bedd50036cd33b-88-78/mercedes-benzmetallic-logo88x78.jpg" border="0" alt="Mercedes" width="88" style="float: left; margin: 2px 15px 0px 0px !important; display: block;" />This is the first of the six-part <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/sa-100-insider">"SA 100 Insider"</a> series, looking at the passions, hobbies, and pursuits of Silicon Alley's tech elite. "<keyword id="1880892" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="SA-100-Insider">SA 100 Insider</keyword>" is sponsored by Mercedes. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/sa-100-insider">Read more posts in the series »</a></div><div class="image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/4fd76dd4eab8eacb69000005-563-420/yext.jpg" border="0" alt="yext employees" />Daniel Goodman via Business InsiderThumbs up all around after Yext told employees it raised $27 million. Imagine what they'd be doing after an acquisition?</div></div></div>Bryan Goldberg and his three co-founders had to wait eight torturous months to learn the fate of their startup.
Technology sites were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/turner-is-close-to-buying-bleacher-report-for-200-million-2012-6">reporting acquisition rumors</a> about their company, Bleacher Report, and each story made the founders cringe. 
The rumors were true: Bleacher Report was on the block. Turner Media, owner of CNN, was interested in buying the sports media site. 
But no paperwork had been signed and Bleacher Report didn't want to spook the potential buyer.
"It went from something that seemed out of reach, to something that was remotely possible, to something we thought might happen, to something we thought would probably happen, to something that seemed almost certain," Goldberg says. "You go to bed every night thinking there's a really good chance this deal is going to go through, and knowing at any minute it could come apart for the smallest, most abrupt of reasons."
Ultimately, Turner purchased Bleacher Report for $213 million. After raising $40.5 million, each founder only owned a sliver of the company. But that sliver was still <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-better-sell-startup-20-175303675.html">worth more</a> than most people make in a lifetime. 
What's that life-changing moment like for a founder?
It's a multi-phase, emotional roller coaster.
<h2>Phase 1: Relief and Disbelief</h2>
Most founders, like Goldberg, feel relieved then euphoric when their companies sell. It takes a while for reality to set in, even after the money hits their bank accounts.
Charles Forman, the founder of gaming company OMGPOP, experienced disbelief. His acquisition came more suddenly than Bleacher Report's. 
Forman left OMGPOP in the hands of his colleague, Dan Porter, to start a new venture. When Porter told Forman about a ~$200 million acquisition offer from Zynga, it was unexpected. The offer stemmed from the abrupt success of an OMGPOP mobile game, Draw Something, and Forman only had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/charles-forman-founder-omgpop-2012-3">$1,700 to his name at the time.</a> 
The acquisition news came as such a surprise, it put Forman in a daze. He <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/omgpops-founder-was-so-excited-about-his-companys-200-million-sale-to-zynga-he-almost-got-himself-killed-2012-3">wandered aimlessly into the road</a> and almost got hit by a car. 
"I walked across the street, and all I heard was 'honk,'" <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/the-new-york-times">Forman told the New York Times</a> then. "It was surreal."
While a thicker wallet is nice for startup founders, telling employees about an acquisition can be even more rewarding. 
<h2>Phase 2: Tears, Vegas and "That's It!?"</h2>
Wiley Cerilli, the founder of a business management tool Single Platform, remembers calling one of his executives, Kenny Herman, with good news. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wiley-cerilli-2012-6">Constant Contact had acquired SinglePlatform for $100 million</a> in cash, stock, and employee incentives while Herman and his wife were away on their honeymoon. While the couple was still in the airport, Cerilli told them they were millionaires. The couple spent the next few minutes embracing.
Dan Porter also remembers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/startups-that-rejected-100-million-offers-2013-5">delivering acquisition news to OMGPOP employees</a>. There was a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/draw-something-creator-omgpop-office-tour-photos-2012-3">celebration at the New York City headquarters</a> which involved popping open a bottle of champagne. Porter then sat down with each employee and told them how much money they had made. An entire day of work was then dedicated to paying off debts, like student loans and mortgages. 
Goldberg recalls mixed reactions from Bleacher Report employees. Bleacher Report's executives distributed paperwork to them that stated the number of shares each owned and the share prices. Two calculators were made available so employees could punch in numbers and determine their new net-worths. Some were ecstatic and wrote the founders thank-you notes; others expressed disappointment.
"People were texting their boyfriends and girlfriends," Goldberg says. "Some people's reactions were like, 'Oh my God, this is more than I ever could have imagined.' Some people were like, 'That's it?!' You never knew what it was going to be."
Later, Bleacher Report employees took an unofficial, un-sponsored company trip to Las Vegas. Cerilli and the SinglePlatform team took one, too.
<h2>Phase 3: Remorse and Nostalgia</h2>
No matter how rich a founder becomes, the acquisition high doesn't last forever. Once it's over, some founders feel remorse.
"When the money hit the bank account, I was just relieved that this grueling eight-month process was over," Goldberg recalls. "Then you realize, I don't own this [startup] anymore, which is a very powerful feeling.
<blockquote class="pullquote">Then you realize, I don't own this [startup] anymore, which is a very powerful feeling.</blockquote>
 You go on the website and it just occurs to you, 'This isn't mine and it doesn't belong to me in any way other than from a sentimental standpoint.'"
One founder who was left bitter likened his acquisition to getting hit by a car, then getting disability money for a hurt leg. While he admits the money is nice, all he wants is his healthy leg back.
Another founder, Josh Abramson, has had years to reflect on his acquisition. Now he just feels numb.
"The moment we sold felt great," Abramson recalls. "It was something I'd been working so hard to accomplish for years. I was basically jumping up and down for weeks. The excitement of having the liquidity lasted about 6 months, then it just felt normal. My life didn't really change at all."
Abramson co-founded College Humor in his University of Richmond dorm room. College Humor sold a 51% stake to IAC for $20 million in 2006. IAC also got two of College Humor's other brands, Vimeo and Busted Tees, in the sale.
Abramson says he has no regrets about selling his company, although it's sometimes tough to hear Vimeo's current valuation. 
"I feel sort of numb about it at this point," he says. "[Selling the majority stake in College Humor] is the single most important financial decision I've made in my life so far and I made it as a 24-year-old. I don't regret the decision - I still think it was a smart thing to do at that time ... As you can probably imagine, it's the kind of decision that gets replayed in your head every now and again."
<h2>Phase 4: Back to Work, with Different Priorities</h2>
Once you've tasted your first startup win, most founders don't crave retirement or a beach. Instead, founders long for the madness of a startup all over again.
"I think with most founders, you want to work the rest of your life," says Goldberg. "I want to be working hard when I'm 80 and having money doesn't really change that." 
Goldberg has already started a new media company, <a href="http://www.bustle.com">Bustle</a>. "I just knew that I had to find another endeavor because every time I go on Bleacher Report, all I can feel is, this isn't my baby anymore," he says.
Abramson agrees. He recently purchased Busted Tees back from IAC so he could run a smaller company again. This time, his priorities are different. 
"It's literally the biggest cliche that exists - but people still forget sometimes that money doesn't buy happiness," Abramson says. "I expected that selling my company would make me feel a certain way and it didn't. Obviously having financial security is awesome to a certain point, but I realize now that having a fun company with awesome people I enjoy spending time with does so much more for my day-to-day happiness than more money in the bank ever would."

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