Carson Kohler

Rebekah Bastian, founder of the online community OwnTrail, felt like she was just getting started — but she ran out of cash, forcing her into an abrupt exit.

In 2021, Talia Koren got an unofficial valuation of her meal-prep company, Workweek Lunch. She took it as a challenge to continue to grow — a decision she now regrets.

In 2016, BarBend couldn’t get VC funding. Buzzfeed was all the rage; BarBend was too niche. Seven years later, the website was far beyond niche — and buyers were interested.

His hospitalization was the wake-up call he needed, but it took Streamline Marketing’s founder more than a year to find the right buyer.

SlidesCarnival could have ended up like the rest of Jimena Catalina Gayo’s projects: forgotten. Instead, it turned into a lucrative monthly income — and a deal with Canva.

At first, Mathew Passy thought it was spam: Someone slid into his LinkedIn DMs looking to buy The Podcast Consultant. “I’m glad I didn’t just ignore it,” he said.

He started by listing foot masks on Amazon. When they sold out, Adi Gullia saw an opportunity in skincare. He launched Grace & Stella, which earned $85M+ in lifetime revenue.

He sold his first company to Conde Nast. More than a decade later, with lessons learned, he sold his second.