If that's the case it's quite sad. I hope that no one stakes the meaningfulness of his life on his business.
It's silly to make this particular business so central. As stated, he can sell it off and just start another shop that does the same thing. There is a lot of great work available for rich people -- they can start any business they want, they can become philanthropists and spend all day giving their money away.
If DHH sold 37s in a good deal, he'd have a lot more options for not only himself, but the future of his companies and all of their employees, and almost no meaningful restrictions not directly related to the properties associated with 37s.
It's really hard to convince people that that's a bad deal, because frankly it's not. Sell 37s and make something new; it can even do the same stuff, just has to be named differently.
I'm really not seeing how this would be a loss if it was done right.
I don't understand why you interpret my statements as absolutes. For example I said:
"In other words, his business is literally priceless in his mind because it gives his life meaning..."
I did not say "...it is the only thing in DHH's life that gives his life meaning..." I seriously doubt that 37signals is so central to DHH's existence (or any member of 37signals) that removing it from their life would prevent them from moving on.
I just responded to Calacanis with a similar point, but essentially I believe you are looking at business as a method to maximize _money_. My point is that perhaps when we talk about maximizing _profit_, profit can be defined as more than money.
It's silly to make this particular business so central. As stated, he can sell it off and just start another shop that does the same thing. There is a lot of great work available for rich people -- they can start any business they want, they can become philanthropists and spend all day giving their money away.
If DHH sold 37s in a good deal, he'd have a lot more options for not only himself, but the future of his companies and all of their employees, and almost no meaningful restrictions not directly related to the properties associated with 37s.
It's really hard to convince people that that's a bad deal, because frankly it's not. Sell 37s and make something new; it can even do the same stuff, just has to be named differently.
I'm really not seeing how this would be a loss if it was done right.