创业不成，如何体面退场

    今年年初以来，我参与的公司中已有两家决定关门大吉。这两家公司的年轻首席执行官都曾有极好的想法，他们不遗余力地推销自己的理念，筹到了不少资金，招募了一流的团队，终于成立了公司，期间也尝试过两三次转型，但最终发现他们苦心经营的项目根本就没有那么远大的前景。

    但最让我钦佩的是两位首席执行官在做出关门的决定时，公司账上还有很多钱。因此，他们有时间从容不迫地解散公司，也有时间给员工、投资者和客户一个不错的交代。

    这让我突然意识到，我们一直对如何打造好一家公司津津乐道，但却几乎从不讨论怎么关闭一家公司。

    原因之一是因为企业家都是彻底的乐天派。乐观是企业家的必备特质，再乐观，也不嫌多。因为惟有乐观，才能扛过伴随企业从创立到腾飞这个过程中的种种艰难困顿和频频遭拒。

    可能就像试飞员，我们不愿承认失败，不愿承认哪怕是自身信心的点滴动摇，担心由此可能会被视为二流企业家。或者，我们过于信奉“好死不如赖活着”，我们总是称赞那家终于熬出了头的公司，而不是其余10家选择全力前行、直到弹尽粮绝的公司。

    虽然我也想支持那些坚持到底的首席执行官们，那些不放弃最后一线希望、积极谋求出路的人们，但我必须尊重那些不仅有智慧看清此路不通，并且坚持原则、竭尽全力让所有利益相关方均安全退出的管理者。

    趁早关门，给自己留有更多选择，不只关系到声誉，还让你可以……

    • 出售一家活着的公司：初创企业从很多方面看就像一头鲨鱼——不前进，就得死。因此，如果公司发展不够快，无法继续独立生存，及早考虑退路可以让你在公司正式关门之前拥有更多选择。比如，可以妥善处理与现有客户的关系，保持团队的人心所向，让潜在收购方对公司有一个更准确的了解。

    • 出售团队的同时也出售技术：20世纪90年代末，我曾经认识两个绝顶聪明的人，他们开发了一个很棒的拍卖定价套利工具。但是，他们当时无法获得后续融资，只能关门大吉，整个团队都被收购了。然而，技术呢？我最后一次听到是尘封在创始人阁楼上的一个硬盘里。诚然，相比纯团队收购，技术收购需要的尽职调查时间更长，涉及范围更广，因此不妨给自己留一些时间来找到能充分评估你们的买家，争取让所有的努力成果最终都能面世。

    Since the first of the year, two of the companies I've been involved with have decided to wrap things up. In both cases, two young CEOs had developed strong ideas, tirelessly pitched their concepts, raised significant amounts of money, recruited first-class teams, launched and pivoted two or three times, only to ultimately find out that their carefully nurtured idea was not such a great idea after all.

    But what I found most impressive was that both of these CEOs managed to come to this decision while they still had ample amounts of money in the bank. Therefore they had time to wind down their companies gracefully, while there was still time to create a reasonable outcome for their employees, investors and customers.

    It made me realize that while we all seem to chatter endlessly about what it takes to build a company, we almost never talk about what's involved in taking one down.

    Part of that is because entrepreneurs are relentlessly optimistic – a necessary trait for overcoming the years of adversity and naysaying that accompanies getting a startup off the ground – so it certainly cuts against the grain for any of us to say "enough."

    Perhaps like a test pilot, we're hesitant to acknowledge failure or even the slightest lack of confidence in our abilities, perhaps scared that others will think that we are somehow lesser as entrepreneurs. And maybe we've been overly influenced by survivor bias, since we mostly hear about the one company that completed their hail-Mary catch, rather than the 10 companies that choose to drive full speed ahead until the very moment they ran out of gas.

    Despite my desire to back CEOs who are going to be bulldogs about pursuing every last lead and chasing down every last pivot, I also have to respect a leader who not only has the smarts to recognize when he is going down a dead end road, but also the discipline to be just as aggressive about engineering a safe landing for all of his stakeholders.

    There's more than just reputation at stake when you leave yourself options. You get to . . .

    • Sell a living company: In many ways a start-up is like a shark -- if it's not moving forward, it dies. So while your company may not be growing fast enough to remain viable as a stand alone, starting your wind-down early lets you keep the doors open while you consider your other options. It allows you to keep your existing customers happy, allows you to keep your current team together, and allows you to show potential acquirers a more accurate picture of exactly what they are getting.

    • Sell your technology, not just your team: In the late '90s two of the smartest guys I know built an incredible tool that did auction pricing arbitrage. When they failed to get follow-on funding and closed up shop, the team landed on their feet. But the technology? Last I heard it was on a hard drive in the founder's attic. There's no question that technology acquisitions usually require longer and more extensive due-diligence than pure talent acquisitions, so leaving yourself time for suitors to adequately appraise you, makes it more likely that the fruits of all your efforts will eventually see the light of day.