Why I Walked Away from Millions of Dollars to Start a Business Over From Scratch | by Rachel Greenberg | Dec, 2023

And three indicators it’s best to too.

Enterprise shouldn’t be like playing, however generally if you come across a technique, mannequin, or product that appears to kick off ridiculously optimistic, profitable returns, an analogous addictive property can come up. In different phrases, should you knew that for each greenback you set right into a enterprise, you’d get $8 again out, why wouldn’t you retain reinvesting all of your earnings in perpetuity till or except these returns drastically waned?

That’s precisely what I did for years, till a eureka second had me cease every part and stroll away in favor of a brand-new, uncharted pursuit.

If you happen to’ve allowed monetary returns, straightforward cash, or no-brainer logic to dictate which ventures you do — and don’t — spend money on and pursue, this text simply might supply an unconventional viewpoint you hadn’t thought of. I’m not suggesting it’s best to goal to make things better that aren’t damaged, however I’m additionally right here to remind you that you simply’re nonetheless allowed to stroll away — and I’ll offer you three good the explanation why you in all probability ought to.

Again once I labored in finance, recruiters would brazenly discuss in regards to the “golden handcuffs” of a well-paying 9-to-5. In different phrases, some jobs are simply too comfortable, prestigious, or profitable to willingly stroll away from — even when there is likely to be a extra intriguing, thrilling alternative elsewhere (albeit one with a riskier return or much less assured consequence).

Whereas the concept of “golden handcuffs” is not any stranger to the company worker’s verbiage, it isn’t so typically related to one’s personal startup. Why? Properly, merely put, startups usually evoke the ideas of danger, unsure returns, and much from assured straightforward cash. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply a profitable startup can’t evolve to carry hostage its founder, and in my case, I used to be shackled by golden handcuffs of my very own creation.

I imagine there are two varieties of founders:

The logics, like myself, might have had sufficient braveness to take the chance on beginning a enterprise, however we aren’t so brazen, carefree, or optimistic…