Built the canal, missed the tolls: the mistimed exit problem

I've just returned from an extended trip through Central America, which started with a day on the Panama Canal.

An awe-inspiring feat of engineering. I highly recommend.

But it's also a masterclass in how not to capture the rewards of your own effort.

You can build the canal - and still miss the real value.

The French started it.

Fresh off the success of the Suez Canal, they came in full of confidence.

They spent 10 years. Lost nearly 30,000 lives. Went bankrupt.

A tragic and spectacular failure.

Then the Americans stepped in.

New engineering. New capital. New vaccinations. New story.

They finished the job and took the long-term prize.

(And no - this isn't to romanticise the USA's role in Central America, which is deeply, deeply chequered in its own right.)

But it is a brutal founder parable.

Too many founders lay the foundation. Build the systems. Fight the terrain.

And then, hand it over too soon.

Tired, burnt out, or simply unaware of what they've actually built.

And that next owner? They compound the value.

They run the ships. They charge the tolls.

You did the hard part. They reap the rewards.

This is what I call the greatest wealth transfer in foundership.

Not because exits are bad - I help founders create them.

But because mistimed exits are expensive.

And wrongly positioned or advised ones? Even more so.

If you're thinking about exiting (or even if it's just in your future), ask yourself:

Are you transferring the value… or realising it?

Cheers,
Josh