“We signed.”

It was midnight when these two life-changing words arrived via text message. I sat alone in the punishing glow of my computer monitor. I was exhausted, delirious, and shaking in disbelief. After a 6 year climb, we had reached the summit of the startup mountain. We had sold the company.

It was a treacherous and lonely ascent. Our company, Liveoak, faced near-death experiences, unfamiliar terrain, and a rapidly changing environment. …