The Interview That Never Happened — Part IX: What You Actually Get to Keep
Wealth is not what you make—it’s what you don’t owe
Joe’s final question is the one that lingers: “What’s your definition of wealth—and what should entrepreneurs understand about life after they sell their company?”
There are a lot of ways to answer that.
Most of them involve money.
That’s not where it gets interesting.
The Illusion of “When”
I remember being at Namale in Fiji for a Date with Destiny event. The local Fijians would hear people say, “When I make enough money, I want to move here.” That confused them. Why not just move now?
There’s something in that question that sticks. Not because everyone should move to Fiji, but because it exposes how often we build lives around things we don’t actually want. If you’re always wishing for something you don’t truly want, you’ll never get to the things you do. And on the other side, some of the things you do want are closer than you think—you just make excuses for why they’re not possible.
Wealth as Freedom
For me, wealth became a much simpler idea: how much do you owe others?
Before selling the business, I carried what most operators carry—personal guarantees, mortgages, revolvers, leases. A long list of obligations tied to people and institutions that don’t know you and don’t care about you beyond repayment.
That’s pressure.
When that’s gone, something changes. You sleep differently.
That wasn’t the goal.
But it was the result.
The Money You Don’t See
There’s a saying that a business is only worth what’s in your bank account after the check clears.
Even that’s incomplete.
The tax man still has his hand out. If you’re not thinking about value on an after-tax basis, you’re not thinking about value at all. The number you negotiate is not the number you keep, and if you don’t understand that before the sale, you’ll feel it after.
Don’t Get Lost in the Wrong Identity
I was lucky in one way. I got involved in a business I loved fixing and improving. The industry itself? Plastic packaging? Not so much.
That distinction matters.
Too many people tie their identity to the industry they’re in instead of the value they create. At some point, that industry will change, decline, or disappear. When it does, if your identity is tied to it, you’re lost. If your identity is tied to what you actually do—solve problems, build systems, create value—you’re portable.
That’s a different kind of security.
Success Isn’t Easier the Second Time
There’s a belief that once you’ve done it, the next one is easier.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Success is hard. And while skill matters, so do timing and context. It’s easy to believe your own story about why it worked. It’s harder to accept that not all of those conditions will exist again.
The Part People Don’t See
There was a point, before everything worked, where I reduced my salary to $1,000 a year just to keep health insurance. At the same time, I was asked to pay for a ticket to the company picnic.
That was my “go fuck yourself” moment.
Not a proud one. But a real one.
It’s easy, after the fact, for people to underestimate what was actually at risk. Even when you’re transparent, most people don’t fully see it.
There’s no clean solution to that.
It just comes with the territory.
🌱 Seed Thought: Wealth isn’t the number you reach. It’s the position you’re in when you no longer have to answer to it
.